Embodiment of Flame: Rekindled
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: Fire. It's an amazing thing. It burns. It warms. It can end lives if not controlled or save them when properly tended. Watch and see how a man who embodies it can change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

 **Greetings and salutations to all! I am back with the next in my line of reboots. This time it is Embodiment of Flame: Reborn. Obviously I do not think the previous version was bad by any stretch, it was just... messy. As many of my early stories were. A lot of what you will see here will be what you have come to expect, but things will be cleaned up a little. The MC is still Natsu, it is still a multi-crossover, it is still a harem story, there will still be lemons, on and on it goes. So, let us begin!**

* * *

Two small figures, one with pink hair and one with dark red hair, slowly made their way to a massive building with a complex marking above the large front door.

"We're here," the pink-haired figure said happily, the red-haired one nodding happily as they walked up.

"We did it, Natsu."

* * *

"Natsu!" a voice exclaimed.

A lean, muscular young man with a slightly tanned skin tone, dark brown eyes, spiky pink hair, a stamp just below his left shoulder in red, who wore a sleeveless, gold-trimmed, black waistcoat, left open and untucked, exposing his bare torso, white, knee-length trousers, a thick black wristband on his left wrist, black open-toed sandals, and a scale-patterned scarf around his neck, along with bandages around his left arm, laid sleeping on the lap of a woman.

"Natsu!" a small, anthropomorphic, blue cat with wings on its back floated in front of him shouted. "Natsu! Wake u –!" he was suddenly ensnared by red hair.

A pale-skinned young woman with long red hair worn in a pair of massive, waist-length braids tied behind her waist, red eyes, and a voluptuous figure with large breasts and wide hips, the same mark as Natsu appearing on the upper side of her right breast, visible through her revealing crimson dress that was secured by halter-neck straps, which left her back, sides, and a large portion of her cleavage down to just above her navel exposed, and extending down to her calves, with a slit down the side for her legs to move freely, two sewn patches of dark grey fabric at the dress' waist, long red gloves that almost reached her shoulders, and red, high-heeled shoes, smirked darkly as he hair extended out, wrapping around the cat. "Sshhhh…"

The cat grunted and mumbled incoherently as he tried to pry the hair off.

Suddenly, the train stopped, and the redhead looked out the window in thought. "Huh? Looks like we are here." She then shook the sleeping teen gently with a smile. "Natsu, wake up. We're there."

The pink-haired teen groaned as he rubbed his eyes tiredly and sat up with a yawn. "Mornin' Flare…"

"Sleep well, Natsu?" Flare asked as he looked around.

Natsu nodded in agreement as he reached out a hand to help the woman stand. "You bet, Flare."

Flare nodded happily as the two of them stepped out of a long train, Natsu stretching in relief.

"Ohh man, that felt good!" he exclaimed.

Happy, the flying cat, snickered derisively. "It only felt good because you got to sleep on Flare's lap instead of getting motion sick."

"Hey, it works, don't it?!"

Happy looked around curiously. "So, this is Hargeon? Looks boatfull."

As the three made their way off the train and into the city ahead of them, a sign denoting it as Hargeon, Flare put a finger to her chin. "Natsu, are you sure this is the place we should go to find him?"

Natsu grinned in response. "Yeah, I heard that Salamander should be here, so we should go looking."

"Sala… mander…?" Flare remarked curiously before tilting her head. "But isn't that…?"

"Come on Flare, or you'll get left behind!" Happy called.

"Ah!" Flare gasped before running to catch up.

* * *

As the three made their way through the city, Flare stopped and glanced over down a side street.

Natsu blinked as he noticed Flare standing with her head tilted curiously. "Oy, Flare, what's up?"

Flare lazily pointed down the street she was looking at. "There's a commotion down there."

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he looked where he saw a large number of girls gathered around a single spot, he heard one say, "I can't believe it's actually Salamander, the famous fire mage!"

Natsu blinked and looked at Happy.

"Salamander?!" they both said excitedly.

"Then it has to be Igneel!" Natsu said victoriously.

Flare tried to stop him weakly. "But… Natsu… wait…" Flare merely sighed and followed after the two.

* * *

As the three neared the group of girls gathered around a single point Natsu noticed that all of the girls were captivated by the supposed Salamander, with Natsu pushing through the group before eventually stumbling up to the "Salamander". Natsu blinked curiously as he looked at the man.

The "Salamander" before him was a tall man with short blue hair, black eyes, a purple crest above his left eye, clad in elaborate white and blue clothing.

Natsu blinked curiously and then sighed heavily. "You're not the right Salamander."

Salamander was about to respond when he noticed Flare and just shoved Natsu aside and approached her. "Well now!" he exclaimed, flashing a ring on his hand towards her. "What's a beauty like you doing with this rat?"

Flare shot the man a venomous glare as her hair began to writhe and twist. "What did you just call him, filth?"

Salamander stumbled back in concern. "That's… I…"

As he flashed his ring towards her again, a segment of her hair extended out and whipped his hand away. "Stop that. Or else I'm taking it and the illegal Charm Ring."

The blue-haired man winced and laughed weakly as he stuffed his hand into his pocket. "Don't know what you're talking about, baby."

As Natsu stood up with a frown, one of the girls in the crowd shook her head vigorously. He frowned in disappointment. "You're not Igneel. Not at all… Great…"

Flare sighed heavily as she walked up to him and fixed his coat. "I tried to tell you."

"I guess… I was hoping she was here."

Salamander looked around uncomfortably as the crowd turned its focus from him and decided to ascend into the sky, taking off with a swirl of purple flames. "You know ladies, I've got a party on my boat later, and all of you are invited."

All of the girls cheered happily, except for Flare who stood with an exasperated expression.

"I tried to tell you Natsu, isn't Salamander your title?" she asked.

Natsu blinked curiously and then turned blue before falling to his knees. "…Crap… I forgot all about that…"

Flare smiled as she knelt down, ruffling Natsu's hair. "There, there. Everyone makes mistakes."

As Natsu stood up his stomach growled loudly. "So hungry…"

At that moment one of the girls that was in the crowd, a teenage girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, a small ponytail to one side held with a blue ribbon, brown eyes, a large chest, who wore a sleeveless white shirt with a blue cross design on it, a folded collar, a short, pleated, blue skirt, with a brown belt that held a black whip on one side and a pouch with a set of keys on the other, and knee-high black boots walked up to him. "H – Hey, there," she greeted with a nervous smile.

Flare frowned in annoyance while Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What's up?" Natsu asked.

The blonde looked at him and asked, "Want me to buy you lunch?"

Natsu and Happy smiled excitedly and nodded.

Flare pouted annoyed.

The blonde nodded happily.

* * *

Inside a restaurant, Natsu and Happy voraciously devoured multiple plates of food, Flare eating calmly as the blonde watched in surprise.

Natsu took a moment to breathe between bites and asked, "So why'd you buy us food and everything?"

The blonde nodded in understanding. "W – Well, to thank you. That jerk Salamander guy was using a Charm Ring on all of the girls around him, it even worked on me, haaa," she paused with a heavy sigh, "but you interrupting him like that broke the spell. So, I have to thank you because who knows what would've happened if you hadn't."

Flare smiled proudly and leaned over, wrapping her arms around Natsu's and burying it in her cleavage. "Well I suppose that just proves how weak you are. After all, I only have eyes for Natsu, I couldn't be charmed into anyone else. Rriigghhtt, Natsu?"

The blonde twitched an eyebrow. "Watch it Red, I could force you to pay for your own meal."

Flare simply leaned on Natsu's shoulder with a smile. "Oh? Jealous?"

Happy then remarked, "Ooh, catfight, rawr."

"You're the cat here!" the blonde rebutted and then paused and blinked curiously. "Gah! Talking cat!"

"You only just now noticed?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously and then asked, "What's your name anyway? Mine's Natsu."

"H – Huh?" the blonde sputtered in mild confusion. "Oh, right. I'm Lucy."

"And I'm Flare," the redhead remarked, possessively hugging Natsu's arm.

"No one asked!"

"So that guy was gettin' you with some type o' magic, huh?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like I said, a Charm Spell. It's a spell that breaks once the victim is aware what's happening. Actually, I'm a mage myself, though I haven't joined a guild yet. Oh, in case you don't know, a guild is a place where a whole bunch of wizards gather together and do jobs and share information. I _really_ want to be in one so I can be a full-fledged mage. I know that once I do join one I'll be able to start taking jobs and earning money."

That got Flare's attention, the busty redhead sitting up with interest. "Oh? Who do you plan to join?"

Lucy folded her arms with pride. "Only the greatest! Fairy Tail!"

Flare remained silent for a moment before tilting her head in confusion. "… Why? You seem normal."

"Huh?"

"You look way too normal to be joining a crazy guild like ours."

Lucy sat, dumbfounded. "… 'Ours'?"

Flare pulled her top aside slightly, showing the large red mark on her chest.

Lucy gaped in shock. "Y – You're from Fairy Tail!? Both of you!?"

"So's Happy," Natsu added.

She sat in complete disbelief. "… I… see… A – Anyway… what are you guys doing in Hargeon?"

"Looking for Igneel."

"Who's Igneel?"

"My mom. She's a dragon."

Lucy almost choked on her own breath. "… H – Huh?!"

"You heard him," Flare interjected bluntly.

"D – Dragon!? You've gotta be kidding! Even for mages, meeting a dragon is rare to the point of impossible! Besides, a dragon wouldn't just be hopping around the middle of a city."

Natsu frowned in confusion, scratching his head in thought. "Why would she hop around? She can walk just fine."

Lucy just slumped her shoulders in frustration.

"What?"

"This is insane…"

"This is Fairy Tail," Flare explained.

"Whatever! So, you guys are really in Fairy Tail?"

Natsu nodded with a smirk. "Yep! Been there for a long time!"

Lucy slumped back slightly and lowered her head in thought before gulping with uncertainty. "… C – Can… Can I join?"

"N –" Flare began to answer before being overwritten by Natsu.

"Sure! We'll even take ya there!"

Lucy's eyes went wide with excitement.

Flare interjected, "But _first_ we need to take care of that fake Salamander."

"Huh?" the blonde asked, not understanding the gravity of her words.

"Salamander is Natsu's title. That cretin is ruining Natsu's name with his antics. So we are going to stop him."

"H – Huh? How?"

Natsu grinned and slammed his fists together. "Beat him up for his crimes of course!"

"… Heh?"

"What?

"Is that… legal?"

Flare huffed derisively. "Duh. He's using illegal magical artefacts to control people."

"Then shouldn't we alert the authorities?"

Flare frowned in disappointment. "It could take weeks for them come down on him, and by then he will have accomplished whatever it is he plans to do. So we have to do this now."

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought before nodding in reply. "… Okay. But how?"

"We find him and beat the crap out of him," Natsu explained simply.

"I figured that, but how will we find him?"

Happy interjected. "Mr. Creepy said he was having a party on his boat tonight. So we go to the big boats!"

Natsu instantly went pale with horror, Flare frowning as well.

Lucy noticed this with concern. "Natsu? What's wrong?"

Flare explained. "Natsu's a Dragon Slayer. We don't handle vehicles well."

Happy looked up at the girl in curiosity. "Huh? But what about your –?" he began to ask before he was silenced with a gag of hair.

Lucy just watched in disbelief.

* * *

Lucy stared in shock as she stood in front of a large mirror wearing a form-fitting, low-cut, formal, red dress. "Why am I the one going on the boat!?"

"Well, we need believable bait," Flare answered simply.

"The hell!?"

"What?"

"Are you _trying_ to get me killed?"

"No," Flare replied, completely unconvincingly.

Lucy groaned heavily before Natsu chimed in, "It looks good on you."

The blonde suddenly stood up straight in surprise. "H – Huh?"

However, before he could respond, Flare interjected. "You said you're a mage, right? We need you to ground the boat so Natsu and I can actually fight and ki – I mean defeat him."

"Fine…"

Natsu suddenly realized an important question had gone unanswered. "Actually, what kinda magic do you use anyway?"

"Oh! Celestial Summoning!" she answered proudly.

"Ah. Like Yukino."

"Who?" Lucy retorted, her pride slowly melting.

"Another member of Fairy Tail. She uses Celestial Spirit Keys too."

"Ah…"

"What?"

"… N – Nothing…"

"Okay…?"

Lucy sighed and decided to change the subject. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Earlier, Flare said you were a Dragon Slayer. What does that mean exactly? I mean, as far as I know, there aren't any dragons to slay."

Natsu raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. "Oh. That's our Magic. It's called Dragon Slayer Magic."

"I see… And… that's why you can't do vehicles?"

"Motion sickness."

"I… see… Wait, if you're both Dragon Slayers, then how come only y –?"

"I am much better at handling it," Flare interrupted before nonchalantly pulling a flask from her cleavage and taking a swig from it before putting it away.

* * *

Lucy gulped as she walked down the boardwalk towards Salamander's boat, a multi-story, lavish party boat. ' _Got to stay calm… I can do this…_ ' Her calm instantly faded as she saw the supposed doorman, a scrawny, mat-haired man with a suit that quite clearly did not fit properly. ' _… This is so gonna suck…_ '

As she approached, the man looked up from his clipboard and licked his lips as she neared, causing her to cringe in disgust. "Ah, another guest? Name?"

"Lucy," she answered, trying to keep her composure despite every fiber of her body telling her to run like hell.

"Hm… not on the list."

Lucy frowned and was about to argue when Salamander walked down the ship's entry plank with a smirk and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, she's a personal guest of mine."

The doorman blinked and then snickered wryly. "Oohh, right, go on in little lady."

Lucy gulped in response. ' _Just what have I gotten myself into…?_ '

* * *

"Uh-oh, I don't see her anymore," Happy noted as he and the others watched the boat from a distance away before it took off from the dock.

"Well that's not good," Flare remarked, no real sense of urgency in her voice.

Flare raised an eyebrow and turned to Natsu. "Should we go?"

Natsu nodded and the group made their way down the hill they were on towards the boat.

* * *

As the three approached the boat, Flare noticed something fall into the water as a commotion started.

Happy then jumped onto Natsu's back. "Come on, let's go!" Happy exclaimed.

Natsu nodded as wide, white, feathered wings emerged from Happy's back, before the two took off into the air.

At the same time, Flare took off the tie on her braids and shook her hair loose, causing it to fall to its full length, flowing down her back.

* * *

Inside, Salamander stood in front of a crying Lucy, with multiple goons around him holding unconscious women. "Now, now, don't worry. I'll just be taking you and the rest of my merchandise to Bosco," Salamander said in an attempt to "sooth" Lucy.

* * *

As they floated above the boat, Natsu grit his teeth as his fists became encased in flame. "Let's go, Happy."

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed as he released Natsu, dropping him onto the top of the barge.

* * *

Lucy clenched her fist when the ceiling suddenly burst as something fell through.

As the smoke cleared, Natsu stood up in front of Lucy, a glare on his face and his fists covered in flames.

"Wh – What the…?!" Salamander shouted.

"Bora, what should we do?!" one the men shouted.

"Salamander", who was actually Bora, turned and shouted, "Don't call me that, you dolt!"

At that moment Happy swooped down and grabbed onto Lucy, taking her away from the ship.

"Hey!" Bora shouted as he shot several bursts of purple flame at Happy and Lucy, Happy dodging through the air and missing each shot.

However, after a few moments Happy grunted.

"Wh – What's wrong?! Did he get you?!" Lucy asked frantically.

"N – No…" Happy strained. "I'm… out of power… and… you're heavy…"

"Hey! I'm not fa –!" she began to shout as Happy's wings then vanished in a burst of light and both he and Lucy fell into the water.

* * *

Back inside the ship, Natsu glared and was about to attack Bora and his men when the boat started to rock. "Oh crap…" Natsu groaned before he fell to the floor, motion sickness taking ahold powerfully.

Bora raised an eyebrow and then chuckled in amusement. "How pathetic. Take care of him."

Bora's goons then gathered around Natsu and started pummeling him.

* * *

At the same time, Lucy saw a ring of keys stuck on a rock underneath the water, and dove down to grab them. As she reemerged at the surface she took in a breath and then nodded to herself. "With all this water around, I can summon Aquarius." She then took a golden key from the ring and stuck it in the water. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" A magic circle appeared in the water, a bell ringing as a figure appeared from within it.

The figure was a royal blue mermaid with waist-length blue hair combed back, a long, blue fish tail that started after her waist, and a large bust covered by a dark blue bikini top, holding a blue pot under one arm.

Happy gaped in shock at the sight. "Wow!"

Lucy smirked proudly. "I'm a Celestial Spirit Wizard, I can summon Spirits like Aquarius here to help me."

"Cool!"

Aquarius then turned to Lucy with a deep scowl.

"Oh crap, she's angry," Lucy gulped.

* * *

Back on the ship, Natsu was helpless against Bora's grunts until several were hit with long streams of fire, sending them flying into the opposite walls.

Bora gaped before he and his men turned to see Flare standing outside the room, her hair elongated and flowing like tendrils, encased in flames, and a furious scowl on her face. "Don't you hurt Natsu!"

Her flame-coated hair then shot forward, striking and ensnaring several of Bora's goons, burning several as she tossed them out into the ocean, before walking towards Natsu and Bora, still scowling.

Bora stumbled backwards as Flare walked towards him, falling against the wall with a frightened expression. "N – Now, let's not get crazy okay…?"

Flare's scowl turned to a warm smile as she sat down and placed Natsu's head in her lap and began stroking his hair. "There, feel better?"

Natsu moaned happily as he fell asleep.

"Whhhaaa…!?" Bora shouted in shock. "Are you mocking me!?"

* * *

Lucy gulped as she looked at Aquarius. "Wh – What's wrong… Aquarius…?"

Aquarius sighed angrily. "The next time you lose my key like that… I'll kill you!" She then looked down and noticed Happy chewing on her tail and gained a tic mark of rage. "Get. Off. Now. Unless you want to die."

Happy remained still for a moment before slowly letting go.

Lucy groaned in exasperation. "Look, we need help! So can you stop being mad and knock that ship to the beach!?"

Lucy and Happy gasped in fear as water surged from the urn in her hands, sending the two flowing away. Though it had the added effect of pushing the ship to shore, grounding it and damaging it heavily.

"Why'd you get me in the blast too?" Lucy asked weakly as she laid in the rubble of the ship.

Aquarius huffed. "Hmph, I was aiming for you, not the ship. I messed up by destroying it."

"What?!"

"Now, don't even think about summoning me for a while, I'll be on vacation."

"Right…"

Aquarius then vanished in a shimmer of light.

Lucy and Happy then got up and ran over to the damaged ship, where they saw Bora and his men strewn about, though Lucy gaped when she saw Natsu and Flare sitting quietly, Natsu's head resting on her lap. "Is this seriously the time for that?!"

Flare lightly patted Natsu's head. "Time to get up, we're on the shore," she said softly.

Natsu stood up and cracked his knuckles as he walked over to the edge of where the room's floor was, and looked down to see Bora and the others standing below them, both Natsu and Flare angry at the group.

Bora looked up and saw Natsu and raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm scared of you, brat?"

Happy sniggered snidely. "If you aren't you will be!"

Flare then narrowed her eyes. "I thought his name sounded familiar. Natsu, he's Bora the Prominence."

"I don't care who he is," Natsu rebutted angrily. "He made a mockery of Fairy Tail, and tricked people into thinking he's one of us and did bad stuff, now he's gonna pay."

"Ah crap," Bora grunted. As Natsu prepared to attack, Bora hissed and raised a hand. "Not so fast." Purple flames emerged from a magic circle and rocketed towards Natsu, engulfing both him and Flare.

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed.

However, a bubbling sound emanated from the flames as they started converging on a single point before they began to diminish as Natsu swallowed the flames.

"What!?" Lucy shouted.

Happy explained, "Flames don't work on Natsu, he's a Fire Dragon Slayer. It's a Lost Magic, he's got the scales of a dragon so flames don't hurt him and he's got the lungs of a dragon so he can eat fire."

Natsu wiped his chin with the back of his hand and sneered. "Che, those flames of yours taste awful."

Flare asked shyly, "Would you rather use mine, Natsu?"

Natsu grinned and nodded. "You bet!"

Flare smiled and flared her hair out, encasing it in flames that Natsu immediately began gulping down. Flare folded her arms and moaned with a reddened face as Natsu devoured the flames her body produced, throwing her head back slightly.

"That's too much!" Lucy shot.

After a few seconds Natsu sighed and then chuckled. "Delicious! Much better, now I'm all fired up!"

Flare put a hand to her cheek with a satisfied moan.

One of Bora's men then gasped. "Oh crap, Bora, that guy, I think he's… the _real_ Salamander!"

"Shit…" Bora cursed as Natsu prepared to attack.

Natsu slammed his fists together, causing a magic circle to form in front of him, his pupils became slitted, and he placed his fists in front of his mouth, his right in front of the left, as another magic circle appeared in front of his hands and he shouted, "Fire Dragon Roar!" A powerful stream of fire then blasted from the magic circle and tore towards Bora and his men. Unfortunately, his attack extended far beyond Bora and his men, destroying a portion of the city as well.

Natsu sighed in relief as he and Flare jumped down.

Lucy gaped in shock. "Is this… really what Fairy Tail wizards are like…?"

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

Natsu, Lucy, Flare, and Happy then turned as multiple guards started running towards them.

Natsu then ran, grabbing Lucy's hand.

"H – Hey! What are you doing?" Lucy asked confused.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right? Well then, come on, I'll take you there," Natsu said happily.

Lucy widened her eyes and then nodded in agreement.

Flare puffed her cheeks slightly as the group ran away from the pursuing soldiers.

* * *

At the same time, in a different place, a group of people stood suspended over a large Magic Circle.

As they discussed different topics, one voice spoke up. "This is ridiculous. Fairy Tail merely causes destruction everywhere it goes."

Another voice added, "Agreed. This guild is nothing more a bunch of fools."

"All they do is break things," a third voice interjected.

A young man with short blue hair, a red, tribal tattoo encompassing his right eye, wearing a white tunic with black trousers, spoke up in a calm voice, "I'd have to disagree. While Fairy Tail does cause its fair share of trouble, it also helps in many things. I can think of several instances where their actions have been invaluable."

"Hmmm… regardless of your personal liking towards them, Siegrain, we are still left with a problem. Fairy Tail is a troublesome and destructive guild, but at the same time competent and strong."

* * *

Lucy sighed as she followed behind Natsu and Flare.

"You okay?" Natsu asked, concerned.

"Y – Yeah," she stuttered, her thoughts elsewhere.

"Good," he replied with a grin. "We're almost to Magnolia."

"Finally…" Flare grumbled as she shook the flask from her cleavage. ' _I'm almost out of brew…_ '

As the group rounded the top of the hill and reached the edge of the nearby city, Lucy's eyes went wide. "Whoa…"

"Let's go!" Natsu cheered before sprinting ahead.

"Natsu, wait up!" Flare exclaimed, Lucy following quickly behind with excitement.

Eventually, they reached the rear end of the town, where Lucy saw a large, three-story stone building with multiple extravagant towers, a bell-tower at the top of the building, and a large, orange banner bearing the symbol of Fairy Tail upon it in white.

"Wow…" Lucy said surprised.

Natsu grinned as he walked up to the front door and kicked it open roughly, shouting, "Hey! I'm back!"

As the group walked in, one of the people inside the guildhall walked up to Natsu mildly annoyed. "You really caused havoc back in Hargeon, did you know that?"

Natsu growled and kicked the guy in the face hard. "Well maybe you should've told me that the 'Salamander' there was a fake you jerk!"

"It's not my fault that you screwed up, dumbass!"

However, when the guy had gotten kicked across the room he knocked over another patron's drink, who immediately stood up and punched the guy, sending him flying at a table where several others were drinking and eating as well, getting them equally enraged.

Almost in the blink of an eye the entire area erupted in a full brawl.

At that moment, a young woman with long white hair, which curled at the ends and had the bangs tied up into a small ponytail, a rather impressively large bust, and blue eyes who wore a long maroon colored dress and matching high-heeled shoes walked to Lucy with a smile. "Hi there, you must be new."

Lucy stared at the woman for a moment before gasping. "Y – You're… Mirajane Strauss… one of Sorc –?" she began to ask before Flare suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Both Mirajane and Flare looked to see Natsu was embroiled in the fight, not paying attention to them.

"Too close…" Mirajane sighed in relief.

"Wh – What was that for…?" Lucy asked, insulted, as she pulled Flare's hand away.

"Never mention her involvement with that magazine in front of Natsu, ever," Flare warned.

"I… see? Why not?" she wondered in bewilderment.

With a smile, Mirajane simply answered, "Once you get to know him better you'll understand."

"Okay…?"

A young woman with elbow-length black hair, dark blue eyes, a blue Fairy Tail crest just above her right, nicely shaped breast, who wore a chain around her neck with a silver emblem, a pair of dark green trousers, and nothing else, walked up to Natsu, annoyed. "Hey Natsu!" as she walked over towards the pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

However, she was stopped by a tall, slim, tanned young woman, with an ample bust and long, wavy, mid-back brown hair that had two shoulder-length strands framing her face, big brown eyes with prominent eyelashes, a black Fairy Tail stamp on the left side of her abdomen just above her hips, with most of her upper body exposed save for a blue bikini top, which in itself did little to hide her breasts, a pair of capri pants, and high-heeled sandals, who was also drinking out of a full-sized beer barrel. "Granel, I know you're proud of letting Natsu see your tits, but there's a place and a time."

The dark-haired teen, Granel, looked at her in confusion and raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about Cana?" She then looked down and realized her upper half was almost fully exposed, momentarily stopping the battle. "Oh shit!"

Suddenly a large, muscular man with tanned skin, long white hair styled upwards in long, wavy spikes with no eyebrows and dark eyes, a scar under his right eye, a black Fairy Tail crest on the left side of his neck, who wore a dark blue jacket, matching pants, and wooden geta sandals, slammed his foot on the table. "This fight's for a real man!" He then slammed into one of the other people inside the hall who had a chair in his hands.

"I'm a woman, asshole!" Granel shouted.

"You should be more chill, Elfman," a young woman with short, wild blonde hair, a simple tube top around her generous bosom, and scant clothing otherwise, snickered, holding a beer in one hand.

"Hu –?" Elfman stammered before being frozen from the neck down, a scowling Granel standing next to him.

The blonde woman laughed loudly. "Cool timing, Granel!"

Granel looked at her in confusion. "You not joining the fray, Leone?"

Leone tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Why would I –?" she began before an errant piece of wood was sent flying, smashing her beer bottle. "Okay… now I'm mad."

Lucy looked around and gaped. "There isn't a single sane person here…"

"What was that?" Flare asked, busily slamming two men around the area with her hair.

Mirajane simply smiled at Lucy. "Don't worry, this is just how things are," she explained before being smacked in the head by a flying bottle, Lucy gaping as her expression remained unchanged even as blood dripped down her face.

Natsu swiftly dropped the man he was punching and saw Elfman with an outstretched arm and worried expression, the man in front of him having ducked his throw. Natsu responded by grabbing the huge man by the leg and using him to pummel the other would-be combatants.

Flare found the act very amusing. "That's what you call beating a motherfucker with another motherfucker."

However, Natsu's onslaught was halted when a massive, shadowed figure crushed him underfoot.

Lucy paled as she looked up and saw the massive, hulking figure standing in the center of the guildhall.

"That's enough! Out of all of you!" it shouted in a deep, bellowing tone. The commotion in the guildhall stopped almost immediately. The figure then turned and saw Lucy.

"Eep!" Lucy squeaked in fear.

The figure then began shrink, shrinking down to an extremely short, elderly man with black eyes, balding white hair, and a thick mustache wearing a white shirt with a black symbol on the front, an orange hoodie, matching orange shorts, pointed shoes, and a blue and orange striped jester hat.

Lucy blinked curiously in disbelief. "Huh…?"

"Nice to meet'cha. I'm Makarov Dreyar, the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail," he greeted.

"Y – You're… the Guildmaster!?" Lucy shouted in disbelief.

Rather than answer her, Makarov jumped up to the second-floor railing of the guildhall. "Okay, you lot!" He then pulled out a large stack of papers and showed them to the guild. "Do you all see these?!" he shouted.

"I didn't do it!" Natsu reflectively shouted.

"These are all of the complaints that have been filed with the Council against Fairy Tail!"

' _H – Huge!_ ' Lucy shouted in her head.

Makarov smirked as the stack of papers in his grasp caught fire. "Although, as far as I'm concerned, the Council can blow it out their ears!" He then tossed the burning pages into the air, prompting Natsu to leap up and devour them. "We have no reason to be afraid of those watchful eyes and ears of the Council, since we're Fairy Tail!"

The rest of the guild cheered in agreement with Makarov.

Lucy merely gaped in disbelief. "… They really are all insane…"

"You'll fit in," Flare taunted.

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu stood in front of a large board with many different fliers on it.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran up to him.

Natsu turned to her curiously.

"Look!" she said happily as she showed him her right hand, which now had a pink Fairy Tail emblem on it.

Natsu smirked in response. "Nice work, Lucy. Great to see you joined!"

Lucy nodded happily.

As the two spoke, Natsu saw a slim young boy with straight, dark purple hair and blue eyes wearing a dark green T-shirt, pleated shorts with two large pockets in the back, and simple sandals talking with Makarov.

"Come on, Gramps!" the boy shouted frantically. "My dad's been gone for over a week!"

Makarov sighed before turning to the boy. "Romeo, you should just go back home and wait patiently. Macao can take care of himself."

Romeo clenched his fists in frustration.

Natsu slammed his fist into the request board before walking out of the guildhall.

"N – Natsu?" Lucy remarked curiously. "Why did he rush out like that?"

Mirajane frowned with concern. "Oh dear… I can probably guess why."

"What?" Lucy asked.

"He probably sees a little of himself in Romeo."

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"

Flare, who had suddenly appeared behind Lucy, remarked, "Didn't he tell you?"

"Gyah!" the blonde shrieked as she reflexively leapt into Mirajane's arms.

The white-haired beauty was rather surprised, for various reasons. "My, my, you're rather light.

"Nope!" Happy teased.

"Shut up cat!" Lucy hissed as she got down.

"I'm not a cat, I'm Happy!"

Mirajane then answered the blonde's questions. "Natsu was raised by Igneel, a dragon. Igneel taught him how to speak, fight, and how to use Dragon Slayer Magic. But then she just vanished seven years ago."

"I see…" Lucy muttered in thought.

"Well? Are you going to go help him?"

* * *

Natsu, Lucy, Flare, and Happy sat in a wagon driving up a snowy mountain, Natsu asleep on Flare's lap.

Lucy sighed before rubbing her arms. "Yeesh, it's so cold here."

"Were you expecting it to be a volcano?" Flare mocked.

"I wasn't expecting it to be _this_ cold!"

"Well that's Mt. Hakobe for you," Happy interjected.

"Indeed," Flare added, gently stroking Natsu's hair.

Lucy merely sighed in frustration.

Eventually the wagon suddenly stopped.

"H – Hey! Why'd we stop?" Lucy asked in confusion.

The driver of the wagon answered, "The weather's too bad here. I can't take you any further than this." He then turned around and left after the others got off.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding!" Lucy shouted in exasperation.

Natsu flexed his arm as he looked around. "Well, let's get climbing! All we gotta do now is find Macao."

Lucy, shivering, asked, "Why would this Macao guy take a job all the way out here anyway?!"

Flare huffed mockingly. "To clear out the monsters in the Job description. What did you think us Mages do?"

Natsu explained, "These mountains are inhabited by powerful creatures called Vulcans. Macao came to fight them off."

"He's crazy…" Lucy groaned before pulling out one of her keys. "I can't take this! Open, Gate of the Clock: Horologium!"

A magic circle appeared in the air before, with a burst of smoke, a tall, brown grandfather clock with long, thin, black arms and legs, a glass case, a numerical clock face at the center, and a small face at the top with slit eyes, a thin, twirly, moustache-like mouth.

"Horologium, let me in!" Lucy exclaimed.

The glass case on the clock opened, allowing Lucy to crawl inside before it closed on her.

Horologium then began speaking. "Ah… nice and warm, it's way too cold out there, I'm going to stay in here, so she says."

"Um… okay?" Natsu mumbled in confusion.

"Wimp," Flare taunted, looking around.

"How are you _not_ cold, she asks."

"Our bodies are naturally warm due to being fire based Dragon Slayers. Mine being Magma."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow.

"What?"

Natsu looked around in frustration before bellowing, "Macao! Where are you!?"

Horologium said calmly, "Stop that you idiot, you'll cause an avalanche, she shouts."

At that moment, a large, ape-like creature with dark grey skin, white fur, and a tall, pointed head, elongated chin, and circular markings on its arms appeared in front of the group.

"What the hell is that, she exclaims."

Natsu's fists were encased in flames as he looked at the beast. "It's a Vulcan!"

The Vulcan sniffed the air for a moment before turning to Flare and grinning widely. "Pretty woman!"

"Ah crap, she shouts."

"Come 'ere you son of a bitch!" Natsu challenged as he charged at the beast, though it dodged before swinging at him. He ducked under its strike and swung his fist up in an uppercut, sending the monster slamming against a wall. "Now piss off!"

"Eh, she wonders."

The Vulcan charged at Natsu and raised both arms in the air before slamming down atop Natsu, embedding him in the snow.

Flare growled with anger before her hair splayed out like massive claws and became engulfed in flame.

The Vulcan grinned before taking a deep breath and then expelled a huge cloud of gas.

Flare stopped as the effects hit her instantly. "Crap…! Th – This is…" she mumbled before her magma melted away and she collapsed, the Vulcan grabbing her before seeing Lucy inside Horologium.

"Eek!" She sat helplessly inside the living clock as the beast picked it up and took both her and Flare away. "Wh – What the…!? What'd that thing just do!?"

"Get up Natsu!" Happy urged as he shook the prone teen, who groaned as he sat up. "Ugh… wait, Flare! Lucy!" he shouted before he watched as the Vulcan ran off. "Get back here with my mate you bastard!" Natsu hollered before giving chase.

* * *

"This isn't good…" Lucy mumbled as the Vulcan set down Horologium and Flare, before focusing on Flare.

The redhead groaned as she woke up and saw the Vulcan. "Foul Beast… I'll melt you…"

The Vulcan just snickered before shooting out another cloud of gas.

Flare growled before setting her entire body ablaze, igniting the gas with a huge explosion.

"Whoa, she exclaims."

The blast sent the Vulcan slamming against a wall, trying to pull itself out before seeing Flare's hair swaying out, all ablaze.

Flare scowled at the beast with venom. "You will pay for trying to touch me you foul mongrel. My body belongs to Natsu alone, and I will see to it that you are punished dearly for your mistake!"

Lucy just gaped in disbelief.

Her hair swirled and formed the shape of a massive serpentine dragon made of flame.

The Vulcan laughed weakly. "… Uh-oh…" it muttered before the dragon shot a powerful blast of fire.

* * *

Outside the cave, Natsu ran up a snow-covered road when an explosion shot a hole in the side of the mountain, the Vulcan flying out before slamming into a mountain on the opposite side of a canyon. "Huh… Guess they're okay then."

* * *

Inside, Lucy watched in horror as Flare's hair returned to normal, the dragon of flame vanishing.

Flare noticed her terrified expression in confusion. "What?"

"Yo!" Natsu shouted up as he stood below the hole in the mountain. "You okay in there!?"

"Of course!" Flare shouted down with a smile before Natsu leaped up.

"Good to see you're both safe."

Lucy just sat silently as Horologium vanished.

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

She immediately pointed at Flare, silently.

"What?" Flare mumbled as she tied her hair back up.

"Whatever. Did you find Macao?"

Flare winced, as she realized she had completely forgotten about that.

Happy looked outside and saw a man with short purple hair and a white coat sitting in the crater where the Vulcan had landed. "Hey! I found Macao!"

"Really?!" Seeing him in the crater, he was rather confused. "Huh…"

"The Vulcan turned into a person…?" Lucy wondered in bewilderment.

Flare stood up and turned to her, annoyed. "Don't you know how Vulcans fight?"

Lucy smiled weakly, attempting to hide her exasperation. "Ah…n-no…not really…"

"They use Take-Over Magic to take control of a target as a new body."

"Creepy…"

Natsu walked up to the man, who groaned as he awoke.

The man sighed as Natsu helped him stand. "How pathetic am I? I beat nineteen Vulcans only to get Taken Over by the last one."

Natsu chuckled as he punched the man in the arm lightly. "Come on, beating nineteen Vulcans is something you can brag about, Macao."

Macao snickered weakly. "Maybe you're right."

* * *

Back in the town, Romeo sat on the steps, dismayed. "Those jerks." He thought back to sometime ago.

* * *

 _Romeo stood in front of a group of boys who were taunting him._

 _"Hey, you're the kid whose dad is a member of that stupid guild, right?" one boy asked with a sardonic smirk._

 _Another boy remarked snidely, "Yeah. They're just a bunch of useless wizards who sit around doing nothing but drinking!"_

* * *

Romeo clenched his fists in frustration. ' _Those bullies are the reason I begged Dad to go and get a job from the request board. And because of that…_ ' Tears began flowing down Romeo's face.

"Romeo!" Natsu shouted.

Romeo looked up and widened his eyes as he saw Natsu and the others returning to the guild, a battered Macao limping with Natsu helping him stand. "Dad!" Romeo shouted as he ran over to the man. As he and his father embraced happily, Romeo shouted joyously, "Thanks Natsu, Flare, Happy! You guys brought my dad back!"

Lucy, annoyed, snarled, "Hey! I was there too…"

"And hid," Happy teased.

"Shut! Up!"

Flare could only laugh at their back and forth.

* * *

Natsu walked into the guildhall and looked around. "Hmm…"

"Something wrong, Natsu?" Mirajane asked as she took a tray back to the bar.

"Hey, where's Lucy?"

Mirajane blinked and then smiled. "She bought an apartment down by the river." She reached under the desk and handed Natsu a key. "Here, this should open it."

Natsu grinned and nodded. "Thanks! C'mon Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy concurred happily.

Flare blinked curiously and followed and behind the two.

* * *

Sometime later, Lucy walked into the lounge of her apartment and flinched in surprise when she saw Natsu, Happy, and Flare sitting on her sofa.

"Yo, Lucy!" Natsu greeted happily.

"What the hell are you doing here!?"

Flare, eating a bowl of noodles, responded, "We're here to see how you're settling in."

Natsu, however, was rather confused. "Yeah, Ama said it's always best to greet women in the morning."

Lucy grumbled in annoyance but then raised an eyebrow curiously. "Wait, Ama?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't raised just by Igneel, but also by Amaterasu."

"Amaterasu… don't think I've heard that name before. Who is she?"

"Goddess of the sun," he explained without concern.

"Rriigghhtt…" Lucy muttered, not believing a word of it.

"What? It's true. I don't see what the big deal is though."

"… Whatever… just wait here."

Deciding the trio were not going to leave, Lucy made tea and handed cups to both Flare and Natsu.

"You know, it's rude to barge into someone's house like this," Lucy chided.

"It is?" both Flare and Natsu asked in unison.

Lucy was shocked by what she could only explain as ignorance. "Yes!"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion and pulled out the key Mirajane gave him. "Really? Mira gave me this key so I figured it was okay."

"Why does she have a key to _my_ apartment!?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion and fear.

Flare explained, "She has a key to all the rooms in Fairy Hills."

Lucy looked at her, wondering what she meant. "What's Fairy Hills?"

"The girls' dormitories."

"… There are dorms!?"

"Yes."

"… Ah…"

Natsu put the key away. However, when he did, Lucy noticed something glint in his pocket.

Lucy blinked in thought and pointed to it. "Hey, what was that in your pocket?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously and pulled out a strangely-shaped golden key with a spade-tip and a purple object coiling around it.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you have a Zodiac Spirit Key?"

Natsu blinked as he looked at it. "I've had it for a while. Yukino gave it to me."

"Do you actually know how to use it?" Lucy asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. I've summoned Ophiuchus a couple times."

Lucy tilted her head curiously. "Ophiuchus? That's not one I know."

"Then you must not know a lot."

She was very unamused.

Natsu raised an eyebrow and then shrugged, putting the key in his pocket. "Oh, right! You're a Celestial Spirit Mage like Yukino, right?"

"I'm pretty sure we established that already…" ' _So I'm not the only Celestial Spirit Mage in Fairy Tail, huh? Great…_ ' She then pulled the keys from the pouch on her waist. "I have six Gate Keys right now. Three of them are Zodiacs, the other three are the regular, silver keys." Lucy then raised both eyebrows in realization. "Oh, that's right! I have that new key I bought. I need to make a contract." She then turned to Natsu. "Have you ever seen a Celestial Spirit Mage make a contract before?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I saw Yukino make contracts a couple times before."

"I see…" Lucy frowned in thought. ' _Sounds like this Yukino girl is going to be competition._ '

"Well ya gonna do it?" Happy asked, eating a small sandwich.

"I'll get to it! Geez…" She then pulled out a small grey box and pulled from it a simple silver key. Nodding to herself, she raised the key and shouted, "Open, Gate of Little Dog, Nikola!"

A magic circle appeared in the air and a burst of smoke emanated from it. As the smoke cleared, a short and stout white creature with bland eyes, an orange, horn-like nose similar to a carrot, whose body trembled slightly.

Natsu twitched an eyebrow as he looked at the creature. "That's completely ridiculous."

Happy poked the white blob with a stick.

"Hey! Stop that!" Lucy shouted.

"It's weird…" Happy muttered.

"I think it's cute. Besides, the Nikola don't take much energy to summon and so a lot of people use them as pets."

Natsu sat silently as Lucy created her contract with the Nikola. He looked at the creature in confusion.

After a few moments Lucy folded her arms in thought. "Right… now I need to give you a name. Hmm… ah! How about Plue?"

The little Nikola, Plue, nodded happily in agreement.

"What a weird name," Natsu and Happy muttered in unison.

"Shut it!" Lucy snarled.

"So what's he do?" Natsu asked, staring at the white critter.

"Nothing really. He's just a friendly companion."

After a moment, Plue walked up to Natsu and grabbed his hand. "Eh?"

"What's it doing?" Flare wondered.

"No idea…"

Plue just kept pulling.

Lucy frowned in confusion and decided she needed to get the cone-nosed creature's attention. "Hey, Plue, we need to make our contract."

"Puun?" the Nikola emoted before walking over to Lucy and picking up its own key from her before swallowing it, resulting in Lucy shrieking with extreme distress.

"WHAT THE HECK!?"

"Well that's new," Flare noted calmly.

"Why'd you do that!?"

"Pun, pun, puun!"

"… Oh right, you can't speak human. Well this is just great…" Lucy then sighed and asked, "Okay…so why are you guys here anyway?"

"We wanted to form a team with you to go on jobs," Natsu answered with a smile.

"Aren't you already on a team with Flare?" Lucy asked.

Flare smiled victoriously.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, but the more the merrier!"

Flare frowned in resignation. "Bedroom and missions aren't the same, Natsu…"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh… still, I think it'd be fun."

"Fine…"

Lucy gulped in concern as she stared worriedly at Flare. ' _Seriously! What is this chick's problem with me!?_ '

"I even have a job picked out, but I left it at the guildhall."

Lucy nodded as she stood up. "Okay, then let's go get it."

* * *

The group made their way back toward the guildhall shortly when a voice called out to them.

"Hey! Natsu!"

Natsu and the others turned and saw two people walking towards them.

The first was a slender, well-endowed young woman with chin-length, light blue hair, brown eyes, and slightly tanned skin who wore a short white dress with a low-cut top, showing off part of her moderate bust, thigh-high, white, high-heeled boots, all partially covered by long, ankle-length cloak that had feathery accents, and a blue rose ornament on the left side of her head.

The second was a slim young woman with lightly tanned skin, green eyes with dark, blue-green eyeshadow, long eyelashes, glossy, dark red lipstick, and long, straight, glossy black hair that reached her lower back that was mostly left loose, which was also tied into bun-shaped loops at the sides of her head, wearing a cheongsam that was blue in the front and dark blue in the back with a slit up the left side that was opened all the way up her left leg, exposing her soft thigh, shoulder-length ornamental gloves bearing the same dual colors, and calf-length boots.

Natsu smiled widely as he saw the two. "Hey! Yukino! Minerva! Back from your job?"

The two walked up to the group and turned to Lucy.

"Yeah, but who's this?" the white-haired girl, Yukino, asked.

"This is Lucy, she's a new member of the guild, and a Celestial Spirit Mage like you, Yukino."

The white-haired girl smiled widely. "That's great to hear!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow in thought. "Really?" ' _That's Yukino?_ ' Lucy took a moment to look over the girl and pouted in frustration. ' _Darn… she's really pretty. She really_ is _my competition._ '

"Um… is something wrong, Lucy?" Yukino asked with concern.

"N – No!" the blonde sputtered. She then turned to the other woman and asked, "And, you are…?"

The woman bowed politely. "My name is Minerva Orlando." With a whisper, she added, "Though hopefully one day Dragneel."

Lucy just stared at the woman in disbelief.

Natsu then asked, "So you guys finished that job, eh?"

Minerva nodded with a sigh. "Yes. Though it was rather irritating."

Yukino, with a slightly annoyed smile, rebutted, "That's because you insisted on using your Yagd Rigora to get the job done when Libra would've been able to do it in half the time."

Minerva smiled sweetly as she pulled on Yukino's cheeks roughly. "My magic was perfectly suited for that. We didn't need to do it the cheap way. Got. That?"

"O – Okay, okay!" Yukino slurred as Minerva tugged her cheeks.

"Good," Minerva chirped as she released the white-clade girl's cheeks with a snap.

Yukino moaned slightly as she rubbed the sides of her face.

"So, what are you off to do?" Minerva asked Natsu curiously.

Natsu smirked and responded, "Me, Lucy, and Flare are gettin' ready to go on a job together."

* * *

 **And finito! Thus ends the first chapter. Be sure to let me know what you thought of it with a review, whether you liked it or not. If you were confused, unsure, or have questions on anything, leave a review about it as well and I will address what I can in the next chapter's reviewer response. Though if it is anything spoiler related you may have better luck with a PM, since I do not do spoiler talk in my reviewer responses since not everybody likes to be spoiled. If you did not like it, review if you must, but try to actually have suggestions instead of just knocking, and please for the love of god have a proper grasp of English. That said, until next time, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **Hello all! I am back with the second chapter of Embodiment of Flame: Reborn! I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter, at least a few of you did, which is always good. I hope you enjoy this one as well. That said, I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the series so far and into the future. Anyway, enough babbling, on to the reviewer responses!**

 **trye: Well here's to hoping you enjoy this version just as much, if not more.**

 **demonfox2140: She'll be a _little_ bit of an asshole, the character of Gray demands it, but nowhere _near_ the extent of the male variant. That's usually how it goes. Eventually, but not just yet. She is, in more ways than one. ;)**

 **DragneelHarem: Nowhere, technically. Granel is the name Bakuto and I came up with for the genderswapped Gray that Mashima drew.**

 **Skull Flame: Not immediately, but yes. Of course there are.**

 **FanFictionHunter: Genderbent Gray, like I stated earlier.**

 **I will bump it up once the lemons start cumming.**

 **Jalis: There are _so_ many different series and characters introduced so often that making a list of each new one each chapter would take up half my time, so I prefer that people just tell me which ones they don't recognize.**

 **Wolf-Link00: Eventually.**

 **Por que no los dos?**

 **Phew! That does it for reviewer responses. So on to the main event now!**

* * *

"So, what are you off to do?" Minerva asked Natsu curiously.

Natsu smirked and responded, "Me, Lucy, and Flare are gettin' ready to go on a job together."

"Aw…" she pouted.

Yukino blinked curiously. "Oh? What kind of job?"

Natsu just shrugged. "Dunno yet. We were just about to pick one after all."

* * *

Inside the guildhall, Natsu looked at the job request board and then grinned. "Good, it's still here." He then pulled it down and presented it to Lucy.

She looked at him, bewildered. "I thought you didn't know."

"Didn't know if it would still be here, and it was."

Lucy looked at the job request in thought, Yukino, Minerva, and Flare crowded around her to look at it as well. Lucy twitched an eyebrow before sighing and reading the request. "Hmm… wow. This person is offering two hundred thousand Jewel just to recover a lost book. That should be easy."

Natsu grinned victoriously. "Yep. Easy money for you, Lucy."

Yukino blinked and then pointed to a lower section of the job request. "Look at this."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "You've gotta be kidding… the person we're going to take this book from is… an old pervert looking to hire blonde maids… hey!" Lucy looked at Natsu annoyed. "You tricked me!"

Natsu snickered. "C'mon… you said you'd do it."

Leone heard the shouting and came over to investigate.

Lucy sighed in frustration. "Grr… fine."

"What's all the noise?" the blonde asked.

Natsu turned to her swiftly and answered, "N – Nothin'!"

"Okay…? What's this?" she asked as noticed the job in Lucy's hand and took it. Twitching an eyebrow, she looked at Natsu. "… Natsu!"

"Eep!"

"Why didn't you ask me!?"

Natsu merely floundered without an answer.

"Don't you know I look great in a maid outfit!?"

Natsu and Lucy both looked at her in disbelief.

"Well? Can I cum too?"

"I – I think we're okay…" Natsu argued weakly.

"Aw… but double the blonde, double the fun!"

Lucy turned to Natsu and argued, "Look, I'm not really thrilled to get into a maid costume for some old pervert, so why not let… um, who are you again?"

"It's Leone."

"Right. So why not let Leone do it?"

"So can I join you or not?"

Natsu finally sighed in defeat. "Okay, more the merrier. But Lucy gets the money."

Leone pouted in response. "Fine. Then you have to give me a drink."

The pink-haired teen nodded in response. "I'll be sure to buy you a large bottle of Moonlight and a gallon of milk."

The blonde grinned brightly before hugging him tightly into her cleavage. "You're such a good boy!"

The others in the room just glared at her, she just grinned.

* * *

Later, Natsu, Lucy, Leone, Flare, and Happy made their way towards the location of the quest-giver, Shirotsume Town.

As they were riding to the location via cart, Natsu avoided motion sickness as he slept, using Flare's lap as a pillow.

Leone pouted. "No fair Flare…"

The redhead just smirked.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow as she looked at the sleeping Natsu. "There's just something not right about this…"

"I know…" Leone commented, "he should be on _my_ lap."

Lucy just stared at her incredulously.

"What? You want him on your lap?"

"No!"

Flare narrowed her eyes before a chunk of her hair wrapped around Lucy's mouth. "No shouting."

Lucy huffed with a muffled voice.

"You gonna be quiet?"

She nodded quietly.

Flare pulled the hair away and then pulled out a bottle from her cleavage and took a swig.

Lucy blinked in confusion. "You drink?"

"Nope."

"Then what's that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"… Right…"

After a moment, Leone pulled Lucy to the side.

"H – Huh? What is it?" she asked in confusion.

"Try not to look at Natsu and Flare's little display too sideways, okay?"

"Huh?"

"That whole lying on her lap thing."

"Ah… Yeah, that's… pretty weird."

"It's something they've always done. Ever since they were little, Natsu and Flare have always been together. After Natsu's surrogate mother, Igneel, vanished, Natsu wandered on his own for a while before he met up with Flare. They wandered the country by themselves for a while before they found their way to Fairy Tail."

"Wow…"

"Yeah, kid's had a pretty interesting upbringing."

"Yeah." After a moment Lucy asked, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why'd you join Fairy Tail?"

Leone just shrugged with a smirk. "Simple. I thought it'd be more fun than the Guild I was in before."

"Ah. That is pretty simple…"

"Yep."

"We're here," Flare interjected as the cart they were in approached the town in question.

"Natsu, it's time to wake up," Flare said softly as she tapped his shoulder.

Natsu groaned before sitting up and stretching with a grin. "Man, I feel great!" His stomach then growled loudly. "Huh… well I say it's time to eat!"

As the group walked out of the carriage, Leone grabbed Lucy's arm. "Oy, you two have a good meal. Lugia and me have somethin' to do."

"That's not even close!" Lucy snapped.

"Sounds good!" Natsu said with a grin as he, Flare, and Happy made their way to a restaurant.

"Now let's go, Lasagna!"

"You're not even trying!"

* * *

Shortly later, Lucy and Leone walked into a shop and looked at the various maid-like outfits available.

Lucy looked at one of the outfits in particular and gulped. "… These are some weird maid uniforms…"

"Ah, come on, they're awesome, Ludwig!"

Lucy sighed heavily before slumping her shoulders. "I give up…"

"Give what up, Lucy?"

She looked at her fellow blonde in annoyed surprise. "You _can_ say it correctly!"

"Why the shout, Luffy?"

"Okay, now I can't tell if you're really this stupid or you're just screwing with me…"

Leone merely grinned, causing Lucy to sigh heavily.

* * *

As Natsu, Flare, and Happy ate their meal, they heard Leone call out to them.

The three turned and Natsu gaped when they saw both Lucy and Leone standing nearby, wearing black and white, frilled, French maid uniforms with black vests that cupped under their breasts, white, button-down blouses that hung tight around their chests with puffed, short sleeves with frilled cuffs, short black skirts, white, frilled aprons, thigh-high white socks, black, formal shoes, and white hairbands atop their heads.

Natsu stopped eating mid-bite and dropped his fork. "Wh – Whoa… Beautiful…"

Lucy's face turned bright, causing Leone to smirk and Flare to glare angrily.

Flare frowned deeply. ' _Maybe I should get one…_ '

Seeing her expression, Happy could not help but snicker. "What'cha thinking?"

Flare responded by wordlessly slapping him with a length of hair.

"So, where to now?" Lucy asked.

Leone answered, "We need to go to the client's residence."

The others nodded.

"And where is that…?" Lucy questioned.

* * *

Eventually, Natsu and the others arrived at a modest cottage on the edge of the city.

"This is the place?" Happy asked curiously.

"Well… I think so," Natsu answered unsurely.

"Well, let's find out," Lucy added as she knocked on the door.

"U – Uh, one moment," a voice from within answered.

As the door opened, Natsu and the others saw a tall, aged man with short, unkempt grey hair, a noticeably small, dark grey mustache just under his nose, and squinted eyes wearing a tattered green suit with a white shirt and red tie. "Hello? Who are you?"

"We are the mages you hire," Lucy said happily.

"Oh thank goodness. My name is Kaby Melon," the man greeted. "Please, come inside."

* * *

Kaby and a woman with him with waist-length brown hair and squinted eyes wearing a tattered pink dress with vertical stripes and a green necklace led the group a rather roomy lounge with an L-shaped sofa in front of a coffee table that sat opposite a somewhat smaller sofa.

"So, where exactly is this book you want?" Lucy asked.

Kaby sighed heavily. "Well… it's currently in the hands of a man named Everlue."

"Who?" Leone wondered.

"So you just want us to get the book for you, right?" Natsu asked.

Kaby shook his head. "No, I want you to destroy it."

"Seriously?!" Lucy asked in surprise. "You're paying two hundred thousand Jewel for that?"

Kaby shook his head. "No, the reward has been increased to two million."

Lucy and the others gaped in shock.

"T – Two million!?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief.

Leone grabbed Natsu by the collar and shook him violently. "I'm getting a cut!" she shouted, the teen only mumbling incoherently.

Lucy tried to ignore the noise. "Y – You really want this book destroyed, huh…?"

Kaby nodded.

"Why do you want it destroyed so badly?"

Kaby clasped his hands together tensely. "I simply can't allow it to exist."

The others frowned in thought as they looked at each other.

"That doesn't explain anything…" Lucy complained.

Kaby bowed deeply. "Please… just destroy it."

"Right," Natsu answered with a smirk.

* * *

Later, Natsu, Lucy, Leone, Flare, and Happy stood several paces away from a large, elaborate mansion with a gate encompassing the border.

"Wow. I guess that's Everlue's mansion," Lucy noted as they looked over the large structure.

Happy nodded in equal surprise. "Yep."

"Most likely," Leone commented.

"So what now? We bust in there and burn up the book?" Natsu asked.

"No, you idiot!" chided Lucy.

Leone explained, "Lucy and I will go up there, try to apply for the job, and then look for that book."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you're actually gonna go in there and work as this guy's maids?"

"Well, duh," Lucy answered bluntly. "That's what the job was about from the beginning, remember?"

"Just to get the book," Leone added.

Natsu turned back to the mansion and tightened a fist slightly.

Leone smacked him on the shoulder. "Oy, don't worry. We'll be fine. If need be, we'll just blow the place up."

"Wish we could just do that from the beginning."

Lucy sighed in frustration. "… Just let us do our part, okay?"

Natsu turned to her incredulously. "Alright, if you say so. But if I smell trouble I'm bustin' in there."

"You'll probably bust in no matter what," Lucy remarked snidely.

"Oh big time," Leone agreed as the two walked up to the mansion.

* * *

Shortly later, the two stood in front of a large metal gate attached to a tall brick wall that surrounded an extravagant mansion.

"Okay… so we just ring this I guess," Lucy posited as they stood in front of a knocker attached to a button.

"Yup," Leone noted as she rung it repeatedly.

However, moments after they did, the ground rumbled furiously.

"What the…?" Lucy muttered in bewilderment.

Suddenly, a large, grotesque woman with monstrous features and short pink burst up from the ground, startling them both. "You must be here because of my master's request for maids."

Leone gaped in disbelief as Lucy stammered, "Y – Y – Yes, we are…!"

"Oh master!" the beastly woman shouted.

At that moment a short, plump man with skinny arms and legs, sporting a curled mustache which directly protruded from his nostrils, as well as a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head, wearing a formal black suit, with his jacket fastened with a large gold button and adorned with a decorative red flower, beneath his jacket was a white collared shirt, a blue necktie and dark blue boots emerged from the ground as well.

"… Eh?" the two blondes muttered in matching disbelief.

"Oh-hoh! So you two are the new maid candidates, are you? I am Everlue, master of this mansion."

The two shivered in discontent as the man walked towards them.

"I – I see…" Lucy replied, trying to keep her composure.

Everlue walked towards them and puts his hands on their chins to examine their faces, noticing the temperature rise sharply, before stepping back and sneering. "Ugly."

"Hah?" Leone snapped, a vein popping in her forehead.

"Tch, off with you."

"H – Huh, why!?" Lucy argued in disbelief.

"I would never hire such hideous maids." The plump man was almost instantly surrounded by multiple maids of rather aberrant appearance. "I only hire the peak of perfection!"

"… I think I'm gonna hurl…" Happy groaned as he and Natsu watched.

Lucy and Leone gaped in disbelief.

Lucy clenched a fist with a tic mark and angry smile. "Why you little…"

Leone sighed and grabbed her fellow blonde by the shoulder and pulled her away.

* * *

Shortly later, Lucy and Leone joined back up with Natsu and Happy, Natsu feeling rather perturbed.

"Wow, he rejected you hard," Happy teased.

The two slumped their shoulders in dejection.

Natsu snarled and cracked his knuckles. "That midget's gonna get it. Calling you two ugly…"

Lucy looked at him in surprise as Leone pulled him into her cleavage with a grin. "C'mon, cool it. That little shit's standards are obviously upside down. So calm down in my bosom!"

Lucy sighed in frustration. "Well that plan was a total failure, so that really only leaves one option."

"We bring down the house!"

"No, you stupid cat!" Lucy rejected harshly. "We sneak in to get the book."

"I like Happy's idea more," Natsu added.

"Aww…" Happy pouted. "I want explosions…"

Natsu, a dark grin on his face, replied, "Oh you'll get 'em Happy."

"Oh great…" Lucy murmured. "He's lost control…"

"And it'll be a masterpiece of an explosion!"

Happy nodded fervently. "Yeah! Because art's an explosion!"

Lucy shouted, "Hey! It's too early in the story for that catchphrase!"

"Aw…"

* * *

Shortly later, the group snuck towards the side of mansion.

Flare hummed in thought as she looked around.

"So, what's the plan?" Lucy asked. Looking around, she then posited, "Will we –?"

Her suggestions were cut short as Natsu merely barreled into the mansion, his fists alight with flame as he blasted a hole in the wall. "Banzai!"

"HHUUHH!?"

Flare blinked in thought. "That took longer than I thought."

Leone nodded as she stuck out a hand. "Yup. Pay up."

"Tch… lucky guess," the redhead hissed as she dropped several coins in Leone's hand, who just grinned confidently.

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "You _bet_ on that!?"

"We bet on everything. The latest bet is on how long until you're just like the rest of us."

Lucy inched away from her in trepidation. "Wh – What does… that mean?"

"You'll see when the bet's won."

"Right…"

* * *

Once inside, Lucy looked around the extravagant mansion with awe and annoyance simultaneously. "So gaudy." She then immediately noticed Leone, Flare, and Natsu looting whatever they could. "Oy!"

"Come on, let's find that –!" Natsu began but was interrupted by four of Everlue's maids who appeared around the group. He snarled at them. "Out of my way, ya ugly ogres!"

Natsu, glaring with annoyed anger, demanded, "I said move."

The maids paled and immediately began running away in fright.

"W – Wow…" Lucy muttered in shock.

"Natsu's really protective of those he cares about," Flare explained. "He can get pretty scary when he's mad."

"Aye! Like that time with that crazy plant and Erza!" Happy shouted.

"Crazy plant? Wait, _the_ Erza?!" Lucy shouted in surprise.

"Yeah, heard of her?" Leone asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, she sounds so cool! But, you know, I've never seen a picture of her. What's she like?"

Flare explained, "She's powerful. And a masochist."

"… Eh?"

Leone retorted, "She tends to like it when Natsu's forceful with her."

Lucy blinked several times before her face turned vibrantly red.

Grinning, Leone added, "Want him to be forceful with you?"

"Shut it!" Lucy shouted, her face increasingly red.

Leone just kept grinning as Flare lamented, "Great… another to compete with…"

"The hell does that mean?!" Lucy hollered before the gigantic maid burst up through the floor and landed on Natsu.

The girls gaped in shock before Natsu released a blast of flames and sent the maid slamming into the ceiling and then back onto the ground, unconscious. "Stupid ugly gorilla!"

Leone could no longer contain her amusement and belted out laughing.

"And she's lost it," Flare noted as Leone almost fell to the floor cackling.

Natsu stared at the guffawing blonde in confusion. "Oy, what's so funny?"

Trying to suppress her laughing, Leone responded between chuckles, "I… It… It's a… a long story…!"

Lucy sighed as Leone just kept howling. "… Let's just get going… Okay, now we need to find the library."

* * *

It did not take the group long to do so when they found a huge library filled with hundreds of books.

Lucy looked around in shock. "S – So many… how will we find one specific book in here…?"

"Why not just burn it all?" Natsu posited as Flare ignited her hair.

Lucy sighed and chided, "Because that'd be overkill."

"No, a Roar would be overkill," Flare argued.

"It'd also be fast," Natsu added.

"Let's try and find the book _without_ destroying everything!" Lucy shouted.

Flare just shrugged. "Fine, we still need to loot everything anyway."

"Fine…" Natsu groaned as Lucy just stared in disbelief. After a short search Natsu saw a large book titled "Daybreak" lying on a pedestal. "Hey! I found it!" Natsu picked it up and prepared to burn it but was stopped by Lucy.

She widened her eyes and urged, "No, wait!"

"Huh? Why?"

"That book was written by the legendary Kemu Zaleon! I'm a huge fan of his books, I can't let the book be destroyed without reading it first!"

"… Why?"

Everlue suddenly burst up through a hole in the ground and shouted, "How dare you break into my house!"

Natsu turned to the man and grinned deviously.

Lucy merely ignored him and started reading the book.

Everlue gaped and then growled. "Wha…?! You little brat, how dare you ignore me! Vanish Brothers, get out here and do what I pay you for!"

"Vanish Brothers?" Natsu asked with confusion.

At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the room.

The first, smaller figure was a tall man with a mostly shaved head of black hair, in a queue style, slanted black eyes, and four red symbols tattooed on his face wearing a white tunic with a high collar, possessing dark stripes on the loose cuffs and flanking the fastener crossing the chest vertically, a pair of mildly loose dark green pants, getting tighter in correspondence to his ankles, and traditional, dark eastern-style shoes paired with light socks, holding a large frying pan. "I am the older brother."

The second, large figure, was an extremely tall man with long, dark blue, curly hair, which was arranged in a distinctive hairstyle, with four large, straight tufts jutting upwards on top of his head, getting smaller near their outer edges, with narrow black eyes wearing a red bandana with black markings on it, his outfit, unlike that of his brother, was western in look, consisting of a blue sweatshirt, with slightly puffy sleeves reaching below his elbows, adorned by wavy yellow markings on the shoulder and the sleeve areas, and bearing three light, diagonal stripes on each side of the torso, simple light blue pants and grey trainers. "And I am the younger brother."

"… They look weird," Flare noted, hiding behind Natsu.

"They look dumb," Natsu remarked flippantly.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. "This book… Natsu! Keep those guys busy while I try to discover this book's secret!"

"Alright!"

' _Did she forget I was here…?_ ' Flare lamented.

Everlue snarled in annoyance. "You annoying bint! I won't let you!" He then chased after the blonde, whom immediately began to outrun him.

Natsu growled at the short man before the Younger Brother whacked him from behind. "Don't ignore us!"

"Hey!" he snarled back.

"Tch, give up now, wizard. You're helpless against us," the Older Brother taunted.

"… Are you two just complete morons?"

"So we developed techniques to nullify your magic!"

Natsu blinked in confusion and then began laughing loudly. "You're a _really_ big idiot!"

The older brother vanished with his frying pan instantly.

"Let's see how much you laugh against our Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack!" the younger brother shouted proudly.

Natsu looked around for the older brother. "The he –?"

However the younger brother surged forth, taking advantage of Natsu's distractedness, and kicked him hard. "If you look at the heavens, the earth will knock you down!"

Natsu hissed in irritation. "Tch, lucky shot!" He then began to attack the younger brother but the older brother appeared behind him and hit him with the frying pan.

"And if you try to stay on earth, the heavens will take you out!" the older brother chanted.

Natsu grunted in annoyance. "Fine, then I'll just even the odds!"

"Hah! And how do you plan on doing that!?"

Natsu then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.

"Like I'll let you do that!" the older brother remarked as he appeared behind Natsu, only for the pinkette to kick his foot back, nailing the older brother between the legs and knocking him down.

"Brother!" the younger brother shouted before charging at Natsu when he was suddenly ensnared by a whip of red hair.

"Begone, gnat," she cursed before lighting him on fire and slamming him through a wall.

Natsu hissed in irritation. "Tch, I didn't even get to summon Ophi. You guys suck, you know that!"

The younger brother merely coughed out a puff of smoke.

Natsu glanced to the side and saw that the monstrous maid was starting to glow and shimmer. "Oh no ya don't ya pink gorilla!" he shouted before jumping up and landing on her back as she vanished, Leone laughing madly.

* * *

When he reopened his eyes, he looked around and realized he was in a new location, one with an endless night sky filled with stars. "Wait… where am I now…?"

The monstrous maid growled before grabbing him off her back. "Get off!" she shouted before throwing him down.

Natsu screamed as he fell before landing on the ground below.

He groaned in pain before sitting up and looking around. He realized he was sitting on a white brick pathway bordered by tall white pillars leading out to a large gazebo on one end and a large throne on the other.

"Oh? A visitor? How unusual," a female voice remarked.

Natsu turned and saw a young woman with long, wavy, flowing blonde hair that reached her knees, with multiple light blonde accents a long section of hair sticking out to one side with a blue-green tip and red eyes wearing a white tube top that exposed very little of her moderate bust, a short white skirt with multicolored accents that tied over her left hip, knee-high white, pink, and brown boots with red bows, shoulder-length brown and pink gloves with matching red ties, white wrist guards, a brown choker with a green jewel on the front, and a series of black straps over her shoulders and midsection walking towards him. "… Hot…"

The woman tilted her head in confusion. "No, I'm fine."

He blinked in thought and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

The woman chuckled in amusement and answered, "I am Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits."

"… Never heard of ya."

"… E – Eh?" Maxwell folded her arms in thought and then explained, "I am the one who rules over all of the Celestial Spirits. Their queen, I suppose you could say."

"It's not Ophi?"

"Ophi? Ah, you must mean Ophiuchus."

"Too long a name to remember. So… where are we?"

"The Spirit Realm."

"Right…"

"This one seems rather dim," a new, playful voice remarked as a tall, slender woman with fair skin, long, wavy blue-green hair that parted at her forehead and draped down slightly past her chin on the front and seemed longer than her legs, pointed ears with blue tips, green-yellow eyes, and slightly above average-sized breasts wearing an extravagant outfit that consisted of a central, sleeveless blouse with a blue collar that had extensions going down to her feet, along with a cape that reached to her feet, blue and green, shin-high high-heeled boots that were attached to a small piece of white clothing covering her shapely bottom and front, and shoulder-length gloves with blue, green, and red rings on them floated down to the area with large, silver-blue, butterfly-like wings.

Maxwell nodded in agreement.

"A bit like you at times."

Maxwell looked at her, annoyed. "That was uncalled for, Muzet. You don't have to put it so bluntly."

"And yet it's true."

"Huh? Who are you?" Natsu asked.

With a smile, the winged woman answered, "I'm Milla's older sister, Muzet." Muzet turned to Maxwell and asked, "So, how did this one get here?"

"I'm not entirely certain. It's possible he happened to arrive here on Virgo's back," Maxwell explained.

Frowning somewhat, Muzet asked, "Is she still stuck in that hideous form?"

Maxwell sighed deeply. "Sadly, yes… Her current Master must hate her, to force her to be something she's not."

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"I assume you met that overly large maid?"

"You mean that gorilla?"

"She's not a gorilla."

"Then why's she so huge?"

"That woman is Virgo, one of the Celestial Zodiac Spirits. Her appearance changes to fit her Master, meaning her current Master is forcing her into that hideous form."

"Seems to fit with that little goblin's preferences."

Maxwell frowned deeply. "She's contracted to a Goblin?"

"A short little asshole who called Lucy and Leone ugly."

"… Kill him."

"It's against the rules of magic guilds to kill. Or something like that."

Maxwell frowned somewhat. "Mavis has gone soft."

"Who?"

"A mage I knew long ago. I guess she mustn't be around much anymore. Well, that said, I suppose I'll give you a small reward for surviving this long in the Spirit Realm, and a way to deal with that pest."

"Huh?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Hold out your hand."

Natsu nodded and extended his hand, into which Maxwell placed a golden key with a red mark near the base and a shape that resembled a lion's head. "What's this?"

"This is the key to summon Leo, the Golden Lion. She currently has no Master, so I'll give her to you as a reward. Take care of her. Now, Muzet, send our little friend back to his home."

"Understood," Muzet answered as a sphere of energy appeared around Natsu and vanished, taking him with it.

* * *

Natsu found himself in a sewer tunnel full of holes and saw the monstrous maid standing nearby, and then turned and saw Lucy, pinned to the ground with Everlue holding her arms.

"Alright you little brat! Tell me what the secret of Daybreak is or I'll break your arms!" Everlue threatened.

"Like I'll tell you!" Lucy retorted.

"Get off her!" Natsu shouted as he punched Everlue away from Lucy with a flaming fist. "You damn midget!"

"How dare you hit me!" Everlue growled.

"I'll hit a monster like you any time I want!"

"Virgo, crush this fool!"

"Yes, Master," the monstrous maid, Virgo, responded.

"I still can't believe that thing's a Celestial Spirit!" Lucy shouted as Virgo swung at Natsu.

Natsu ducked under the attack before upper cutting Virgo with a flaming fist and then rearing his fist back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He sent a punch at the monstrous Spirit that exploded on impact and caused Virgo to dispel. Natsu sighed in relief and then turned to Everlue. "Good, now to pummel the midget."

Everlue paled in fear. "W – w – wait!"

"I don't like waiting," Natsu said with a cruel grin as he cracked his knuckles.

"P – Please, wait just a moment!"

"Okay," Natsu answered plainly.

"Oh go –" Everlue began with a sigh before Natsu socked him in the face.

"Moment's up!"

Lucy gaped as Natsu began beating Everlue brutally.

"So… what'd I miss?" Leone questioned as she walked up to the scene.

Natsu sighed in relief as he finished beating Everlue. "There, all done."

"Guess I missed a lot," she commented before taking a swig from a bottle of liquor she obviously stole.

With a grin, he lit his hands with fire and looked at Daybreak. "Now… let's burn it."

However, the mansion began rumbling violently.

"What now…?" Lucy asked in worry.

"… What was that?" Flare questioned, looking at Leone.

"The bombs," she answered.

"Oh. That was a delayed detonation."

"Yep. Had to make sure none of the booze was wasted and we had time to get out."

"Are none of you worried about this!?" Lucy hollered.

"Why should we be?" all three asked.

"Right, let's get going," Natsu remarked before grabbing all three girls and leaping out through one of the holes in the ground.

"Wait for me!" Happy pleaded frantically as he followed the group.

Natsu jumped out of the hole with the girls right as the mansion collapsed, narrowly avoiding getting crushed.

"Too close…" Lucy moaned.

"Really?" Flare retorted.

Natsu grinned. "You should be proud, Lucy."

"Why…?"

"You're keeping up the Fairy Tail tradition of causing mayhem!"

Lucy sighed and urged, "Let's just get this book back to Kaby."

"Eh? Why?"

"He needs to see this."

"We did it!" Natsu cheered as he and the others walked into Kaby's home.

"Y – You did?!" Kaby asked in surprise. However, his face turned sour when he noticed Lucy holding the book. "Wh – What?! I told you to destroy it, not bring it back!"

"Loomy said you need to see it," Leone commented, eliciting a silent glare from Lucy.

Lucy frowned slightly. "You should see this first. I know now why you wanted us to destroy it."

Kaby stiffened as she continued.

"To protect your father's legacy."

Kaby tensed and then sighed heavily. "Yes… Kemu Zaleon, or rather, Zekua Melon, was my father."

Leone frowned slightly. ' _Explains how he could afford two mill for a job…_ '

"But why? Why would you want to destroy your father's last work?"

"Because…" Kaby tightened his fists before sighing and explaining, "I harbored great resentment to my father, he left our family for over three years without any contact. Then, when he returned, he swore to never write again and amputated his writing hand. He died shortly thereafter, and my rage turned to remorse. So I wanted to destroy that book to save my father's honor as a great writer. Not have his last work be some aggrandizing nonsense he was forced to write by a self-obsessed maniac."

"But it's not…" Lucy sighed as Kaby lit a match to burn the book.

"At least, with this, I can –" however, before he could burn the book, wind in the room suddenly blew through, putting out the match before the book opened on its own and the words in the book burst forth, rearranging themselves, the title also changing from "Daybreak" to "Dear Kaby". "Wh – What…?"

"Told you. I actually read the book before we brought it back," Lucy explained. "Your father, Zekua, was actually a mage, and he used Writing Magic to encode a message in the pages of that book. Even while Everlue had him slaving away at it, all he did was write that book especially for you, Kaby."

Kaby started reading the new contents of the book as his eyes widened and began to fill with tears.

Leone noticed Natsu's expression and frowned. ' _Oh we are so not getting paid…_ '

After a moment, Natsu sighed and remarked, "Hey, Kaby, don't worry about that reward."

' _Ah hell…_ '

"WHAT!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Natsu!" Flare shouted.

"The mission was to destroy the book, and we failed," Natsu explained. "It wouldn't be right to take the money for a failed job, it'd ruin Fairy Tail's name. Besides, he doesn't have enough money anyway."

Leone's eyebrow twitched furiously. ' _Don't strangle Natsu… don't strangle Natsu…_ '

Kaby stiffened and paled.

"Huh?" Lucy asked.

"I know what rich people smell like," Natsu explained. "They smell different than most people. He's not rich."

Kaby sighed heavily. "… Yes, you're right. I only rented this house so you people would believe I was wealthy and would help me with this task."

Leone stared in disbelief.

"You mean…?" Lucy trailed off, dismayed.

"Yes… I wouldn't have been able to pay you even if you destroyed the book."

Leone's frown deepened. ' _… Bullshit… If that was true he'd never get away with posting the job in the first place…_ '

Natsu patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it!"

The girls slumped their shoulders in disappointment.

"Okay guys, let's go home!"

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

"… Aye…" the girls muttered in quiet despair.

As they walked out of the house, Lucy groaned in defeat. "Aw man… how am I gonna pay rent…?"

Leone hummed, as if in thought.

"Something on your mind?" Natsu asked, falling into the trap.

"Just wondering how they managed to get the job past the Guild Association if they didn't have the money to pay the reward."

Flare explained, "The Guild offers payment plans in case the client can't pay everything up front."

Leone then noticed Lucy staring with a dead-eyed disbelief. "What's up, Lobby?"

In shock, the blonde mumbled, "You mean… we could… have gotten paid…?"

"Eventually," Flare answered.

"You lost me rent and food money!" Lucy shouted as she strangled Natsu, getting only grunts out of him.

Leone just snickered before Lucy dropped Natsu and pouted. "Hey, I don't wanna hear it. I don't know if I'll be able to pay for my dorm."

"There are dorms?!"

"Yeah. The rent is a hundred thousand Jewel a month."

Lucy stiffened in shock. "W – Wow… I can barely afford my seventy thousand Jewel a month rent…"

Flare blinked curiously, noticing Natsu frowning in thought. "Natsu…?"

Natsu offered, "You could stay at Flare and my place."

Lucy looked at him in shock. "S – Seriously?"

"Yep!"

Her excitement became suspicion for a moment. "… It's not some kind of hovel, is it?"

Without a moment's pause, Flare responded, "Yes. It's disgusting. You would never want to live there."

"Huh? But it's n –" he began to argue, Flare stopping him.

Lucy frowned suspiciously before Leone explained, "It's actually a nice little place out in the forest. Don't believe Flare, she cares about Natsu too much to let him live in filth."

"Ah…" she muttered, listening.

"So I wouldn't think it be bad if you don't want to pay your rent for that apartment."

Natsu stopped and turned to the side. "Hey, this way's a shortcut."

"Oh real –?" Lucy began but stopped when she saw that Natsu's supposed shortcut was a swamp, causing her to kick him. "You idiot! I'm not walking through that!"

Natsu outstretched his hands, causing black flames to emerge from his palms and form discs that floated above the ground. "Come on, hop on."

"Hhuuhh!? Are you crazy?! I'll get burned!"

Flare immediately stepped up on one of the discs and sat down.

"Dibs on his back!" Leone cheered before latching onto him from behind.

"What?!"

"Natsu has full control of these flames," Flare explained. "They won't burn you."

Lucy gulped and then placed her hand on the disc of flames, widening her eyes. "Huh? It's not even hot." She then proceeded to sit on the disc in surprise. "Wow…"

"Told you," Flare taunted, just eliciting a glare from the blonde.

Natsu then started walking through the swamp, his flames carrying the two girls as Happy floated behind him.

As he walked, he twitched an eyebrow, trying to ignore Leone rubbing her bosom against his head.

Leone pouted in disappointment, causing Flare to smirk. Smirking confidently, Leone leaned up slightly, her cleavage almost burying the teen's head, only for her to get smacked down by a hair whip from Flare. "Hey!"

"No cheating," Flare chided.

"You shoulda called the back first, then!"

Lucy just sighed as she watched the two, before Happy teased, "You liiiiiiiike him, Lucy."

"Shut it, you stupid cat!" she shot back, Natsu just continuing to walk.

* * *

As Natsu walked out of the swamp, his flames still carrying the girls, he said, "Alright, we're through the swamp."

Lucy, whom had fallen asleep on the disc she was floating on, groaned as she woke up. "H – Huh? Oh, sorry, I fell asleep."

"Dreamin' of Natsu?" Happy teased.

"No!"

Flare sighed as she stepped off the disc when Natsu dispelled them, causing Lucy to hit the ground.

"Ready to go?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah…" Lucy remarked as she rubbed her bum before standing up.

"Well that was embarrassing," Flare taunted with a smirk.

Lucy just frowned, then Leone, still riding on Natsu's back, questioned, "What's wrong, Lana?"

"Forget it," she groaned.

"Don't let Flare bother you Lulu. She doesn't take well to new girls in the harem."

"I'm not a part of this!" she instantly shot back.

"You will be," Leone and Flare both replied in unison.

"There's even bets on when," Leone noted.

Lucy just gaped before Flare turned to Leone, annoyed. "Get off him," she demanded, only for Leone to stick her tongue out childishly, prompting Flare to wrap her in a hair tendril and toss her off of Natsu and into a bush, where a new voice shouted in surprise.

"Hey! Get off!" Granel shouted as Leone landed on top of her.

"What are you doing in there?" Natsu asked with confusion.

"I'll answer when fatass gets off me," Granel snarled, resulting in Leone whacking her, hard. "Gah! Not my boobs ya crazy woman!"

Lucy and Natsu just watched in silence.

"Get… off!" Granel demanded.

"Then apologize first, ice cream tits!"

Happy suddenly cheered, "Catfight!"

"You're the only damn cat!" Lucy snarled before Natsu suddenly stepped in and pushed the two apart.

"Enough!" he shouted, before blinking when he noticed their surprised expressions and looked down to see his hands on both of their chests. Almost on instinct he gave each of their bosoms a squeeze.

Lucy gaped in disbelief.

"Somethin' wrong?" Happy questioned.

Lucy just sighed.

"So why're you here?" Natsu questioned Granel.

"A bunch of stupid Dark Mages."

"Oh…?" Natsu asked with annoyed interest.

A man with orange hair suddenly burst from the bushes and grabbed Happy.

"Huh?!" Natsu growled.

"So they're back!" Granel shouted, readying her magic.

A second orange-haired man looked at Happy hungrily. "Aw man, I haven't eaten in days, let's hurry and fry him up!"

Natsu paled in horror. "Gah! If they do Lisanna will kill me!"

"That's your problem!" Lucy shouted.

"HELP!" Happy shrieked.

"Let him go you creeps!" Natsu howled as he charged at them with flaming fists.

"Hu –?" the first mage grunted before getting sent flying by Natsu.

"If you're hungry, I got a couple sandwiches for ya!"

"Huh? Reall – ?" the second mage asked before getting punched in the mouth. "Oh… knuckle sandwiches…"

The two orange-haired mages stood weakly and sent out bolts of lightning, which Natsu easily dodged, and spin-kicked, taking out the two mages.

Granel formed her right hand into a fist and slammed it against her open left palm, the air around her hands freezing before she thrust her hands forward and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" causing a magic circle to appear in front of her, sending out multiple arrows of ice that knocked out the remaining mages.

Natsu and Granel lined them up against a nearby tree and Granel froze them all against the tree.

"Okay, start talking, or else," Granel warned as Natsu lit up his hands with fire and a sadistic grin.

"Alright, alright, what do you want to know?!" the first orange-haired mage shouted fearfully.

"Who are you guys, and why were you digging up that old temple?"

"W – We… can't say…" the second orange-haired mage muttered timidly.

"Oh?" Natsu questioned as he cracked his knuckles. "How 'bout if I smash something important?"

Another of the mages, a short goblin, shouted frightfully, "Eisenwald! We're with Eisenwald!"

"Dammit…" the first orange-haired mage lamented, "and we were so close to Lull –"

However, before he could finish his sentence, a giant hand made of shadow appeared from the distance, grabbed the tree, and pulled it and the mages, underground, crushing them.

"What the hell!?" Natsu exclaimed. "… Well that happened."

"Great…" Granel groaned, "come on, let's head back."

"Why?"

"Erza's on her way back, and I wouldn't want to be the one who arrives late."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "… Why?"

Granel twitched an eyebrow before sighing. "Right… I forgot she actually likes you."

"And Mira!" Happy chimed in.

* * *

Sometime later, the group made their way back to the guild.

After looking around, Granel sighed in relief. "Good, we made it back before Erza."

"Is she really _that_ scary?" Lucy asked.

Natsu shrugged. "Not really. She can be pretty strict though."

Leone added, "I'm S-Class, but even _I'm_ scared of her."

Lucy blinked in confusion. "S-Class?"

Flare nodded in response. "Oh, right. You don't know. Fairy Tail mages exist in two tiers. Standard mages, like you, Natsu, and virtually everyone in the guild. Then there's the S-Class mages. They are the mages who have taken a rigorous test and proven themselves worthy to take on missions that are too dangerous or risky for the average mage. Currently, Fairy Tail only has six S-Class mages. Erza and Mira are among them."

"Oy, so am I," Leone snapped.

"I consider your membership a fluke."

Leone twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "Wanna test that, spitfire?"

"Ah, you're back," Mirajane said happily as the group walked towards the bar. "How'd the job go?"

Lucy slumped shoulders and groaned in frustration.

"That bad, huh? I'm guessing Natsu refused the payment again?"

The blonde cried waterfall tears. "It was two million he refused!"

Mirajane laughed lightly. "Thought so. His heart's in the right place. He thinks that if the job isn't completed exactly as requested then it's failed. It's just one of the many things Erza pounded into his skull."

"But…" Lucy argued weakly.

"Yeah, I know," a new voice added.

Lucy turned and saw a young, petite woman with long, elbow-length white hair that curled at the ends and bright blue eyes wearing a low-cut, light blue dress with white shoulder straps, a long, mid-calf-length white skirt with a long slit up the left side, up to her hips, a pink sash around her waist, elbow-length gloves, and blue sandals standing nearby, cleaning the bar with a rag.

"He really does mean well though."

Lucy hung her head in defeat. "Right… uh, who are you again?" Lucy asked.

The white-haired woman smiled and answered, "I'm Mira's little sister Lisanna. And that big guy over there is Elfman, the middle sibling."

"Ah…" Lucy gaped in surprise as she looked at the large, boisterous man in the room before raising an eyebrow and turning to Mirajane. "Wait, you said Erza hammered that stuff into his head?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes. When Natsu first arrived here, he was pretty skilled at fighting and a few basic skills, but he lacked certain qualities as a result of being raised by a dragon and a goddess."

"Eh…?"

Mirajane immediately covered her mouth in shock. "Oh no! Forget I said that, pretty please?"

"Why?"

"Natsu wants that to be a secret. Though he's never really said why," Lisanna explained.

"I see…"

Mirajane added, "And then Natsu found Erza."

"Ah… wait, found her?"

"Yep."

"… How…?"

"Caught her on a fishing rod."

"Hah!?"

"What?"

"He _caught_ her!?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes. He was fishing near the ocean and snagged her on a hook."

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "… That's almost too crazy to believe."

Lisanna nodded with a sigh. "It is true. And lead to the first nickname Big Sis called her…"

"… Do I even want to know…?"

"Red Herring," Mira answered with amusement.

Lucy just stared in silence.

"Whaaat?" Mirajane asked with a smile.

"… Nothing…"

Lisanna slumped her shoulders in defeat. "I know… You should try dealing with her and Brother twenty-four seven…"

Mirajane continued her story, "Anyway, after he brought her here, Erza took it upon herself to teach those things to Natsu. He wasn't exactly… receptive… at first. But after a while he started to actually enjoy his time with Erza. Her training in some of the basics of civil life escalated to her actually training him how to use a sword."

"Eh?" Lucy mumbled in disbelief.

Yukino nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You wouldn't think it by looking at him, but he's pretty skilled with it. Nowhere near as good as Erza but better than the average swordsman."

"He actually _has_ a sword?!"

"Yes," Mira answered with a nod. "Besides the one between his legs."

"… Is every woman here a pervert…?"

"Are you?" Mira questioned.

"No!" Lucy shot back with embarrassment.

"Then no. For now."

Lisanna added, "Weird thing about one of his swords, a really big one an old man gave him a while ago too, Natsu's the only one who can lift it. Even Master can't. Someone like Elf can, but just barely. And Natsu lifts it with one hand."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah, even Erza tried and she couldn't get it to budge."

"… One of…?" Lucy asked in worry.

"Yes, he has several," Mira added.

Lucy gulped before turning to see Natsu lighting something on fire, tossing it in the air, and then eating the flaming object. "… I don't know if I trust him with even one sword…"

"You should ask him to show you his swords."

Lucy just stared silently at her with suspicion.

"What?"

"I'm not sure how to take that…"

"Okay…?"

"Oh, hey Mira, can I ask you about something?"

"I'm an E-Cup. Or was it F?"

" _Not that_!"

"Oh. Then what?"

"We ran into some loonies who said they were from something called Eisenwald. What is that exactly?"

"Trash, or more specifically, a Dark Guild."

"Dark Guild?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes, I'll explain. As you probably know, there are Mage Guilds all over Fiore. They are each run by guildmasters. These guildmasters answer to the Magic Council. The Council decrees and enforces all of the laws governing magical guilds. It's a guildmaster's job to see to it that his or her guild follows and obeys the laws of the Council. However, there are some guilds that violate or simply refuse to obey the Council's laws. These guilds are called Dark Guilds, and their members Dark Mages. Eisenwald is one such guild."

"I see…"

Natsu and Granel stood, growling at each other.

"Great, they're at it again," Cana groaned before sighing in annoyance. "Oh get a room and fuck already!"

Lucy frowned in thought. "What are they fighting over…?"

Leone went around the group collecting money for bets. "Dunno yet."

Lucy just frowned in bewilderment.

"Wanna take a bet on what it is or who ends up on top?"

"No," Lucy remarked bluntly.

"Suit yourself."

Suddenly, the door burst open violently.

"What the…?!" Lucy shouted in shock.

"Bad news!" shouted a man running into the door.

"We're out of alcohol?" Leone and Cana asked in worry.

"No! Erza's back!"

However, a calm, authoritative voice behind him, suddenly chided, "And why, pray tell, is that bad?"

"Eek!" the man shouted as he jumped up in surprise.

Behind him was a beautiful young woman with long, scarlet red hair that reached her waist and brown eyes who was wearing simple armor with a breastplate composed of a single piece of metal that did little to disguise the generous bosom underneath, decorated with curved lines and a deformed, yellow, cross, large and detailed shoulder guards, a waist guard composed simply of two elaborate plates hanging from a simple belt over a thinner pair of plates circling her waist, plated gauntlets that extended up to her elbows, covered by elbow guards adorned by protruding metal ornaments reminiscent of feathers, a prominent, armored collared circling her neck and leaving the front side open, a short blue skirt, and long, knee-high, black, leather boots, carrying a massive horn on her back.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted excitedly as he dove at her.

The redhead, Erza, slammed the horn down with a loud crunch. Looking down, she saw Natsu under the horn. "Hm? Natsu, what are you doing down there?"

"Wanted… to… hug…"

"Wh – Whoa… the whole atmosphere's changed…" Lucy remarked before looking at Erza in thought. ' _S – So pretty…!_ '

Natsu suddenly shoved the massive horn to the side, off of him. "That thing's heavy! Why'd you drop it on me?"

Erza looked at him somewhat puzzled. "I did not."

"Then why was it on me?!"

"You happened to be where I placed it."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow. "No bed for a week."

Erza's eyes went wide in shock. "Th – That is too far!"

"Then don't set a horn on me when I try to hug you!"

Erza twitched an eyebrow before turning to Mira, trying to redirect matters. "Is the Master here?"

Nodding, the white-haired woman answered, "The master's at a conference, he left this morning."

"What is that humongous thing, Erza?" Macao asked.

"The horn of a monster I subdued," Erza explained. "The locals decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Is it a problem?"

"No, not in the least!"

Wakaba then muttered, "I bet she's heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe."

"O – Oh crap… I'm a goner," Macao mumbled in fear.

Erza sighed before noticing Lucy next to Flare and Yukino. "Hm? Who is the new member?"

"L – Lucy," the blonde answered timidly.

Looking her over, Erza nodded. "I see. Welcome to the harem."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow before Flare corrected, "She's not in it yet. Bets are still going as well."

"I understand. Fifty thousand Jewel on two and a half weeks."

Leone nodded as she scribbled on a pad. "Noted."

Lucy sighed in irritation. "Is everyone here a pervert!?"

"Are you?" Erza questioned, to which Lucy shouted a no. "Then no."

Lucy just stared at her in disbelief.

Erza thought for a moment before nodding to herself. ' _That might work. … And get me bed rights back!_ ' "Natsu," she called out suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"I need your aid with a problem."

"Oh?"

"I heard about something bad on my last job. Normally I would consult Master Makarov about something like this first, but I believe this is a matter of utmost urgency."

"I'm in!"

Lucy stared at him incredulously. "… You didn't even ask what it is."

Natsu just ignored her as Erza continued, "I am going to need more for this mission, however. Minerva, Granel, Yukino, I am going to need each of your abilities."

* * *

 **And there you have it! The second chapter finished. Hopefully the wait was not too excruciating for you all. If you enjoyed it, do be sure to leave a review letting me know. If you were confused, unsure, or just have questions about anything, let me know with a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns; though be aware if it is spoiler related I likely cannot answer it in a reviewer response since not everyone will want things spoiled, so a PM might be best for that kind of thing. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, but having a proper grasp of English and a point would be appreciated. Or just do something else you actually enjoy instead. Anyway, enough rambling out of me, until next time, bye-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **Greetings all! This is the story that got third place in the poll, so it's the third one I will be updating. After this I will be updating stories as I please. That said, I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter. Seems at least a few people did. And same with this chapter. Hopefully the wait from the last one was not too bad. And if it was, here is hoping this one makes up for it. Anyway, with the pleasantries out of the way, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help thus far, and on with the reviewer responses!**

 **Skull Flame: Understood.**

 **Indeed they do.**

 **Magic.**

 **Elkath: It takes intelligence to pass the S-Class Exam in addition to skill, so there's that.**

 **Yes, Juvia is still in the harem. And yes.**

 **Guest: Average isn't what it takes to pass the S-Class Exam. He will get there eventually, just not yet.**

 **FanFictionHunter: She'll get more screentime, so to speak, later on.**

 **Same.**

 **Probably not.**

 **Reaper6666: I've got a couple I'm thinking of doing, but nothing I'm quite ready to post yet.**

 **Not too many going on here, but enough to keep things interesting. Anyway, just let me know what you thought of the chapter after you are done. With that, on with the show!**

* * *

"I am going to need more for this mission, however. Minerva, Granel, Yukino, I am going to need each of your abilities," Erza declared firmly.

Smirking, Minerva remarked, "Sounds like an orgy."

"What about me?!" Flare demanded, insulted.

"What about you?" Erza retorted bluntly, causing Flare to slump before growling.

"I want to go too!"

Erza shook her head firmly. "No. This mission does not need a group that large. So stay here and cook Natsu a big dinner."

"I think it'd be fun to bring everyone along," Natsu added with a grin.

Erza remained silent for a moment. ' _If I say no, it might hurt might chances of getting bedroom privileges back… On the other hand…_ '

Mirajane gasped in thought as she watched the events before her. "This could very well be the strongest Fairy Tail team ever assembled."

"Eh…?" Lucy muttered in surprise.

After a moment of thought she then turned to Lucy. "Hey, Lucy, why don't you go along too to see if you can stop them from fighting too much?"

"Eh?! Me!?"

"Yes."

"… Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Erza remained in silence for a moment before sighing. "Fine, you two can come along. But do not get in the way. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Flare answered with a firm nod.

"Y – Yes!" Lucy stuttered in fear.

Erza nodded approvingly. "Good. Let us go."

* * *

The group of Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Minerva, Flare, Yukino, and Granel arrived at the train station shortly and were preparing for the ride.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!"

Oh yeah, Happy was there too.

"You're so nice…"

Lucy had a collection of her own bags, as did Natsu and the others. The one who surprised her, however, was Erza.

Namely because Erza had a cart the size of the guild hall.

Lucy looked at the massive cart of bags and blinked in shock. "What… is all that stuff?"

Erza looked up at the stack plainly and answered simply, "Merely items I feel are necessary for the trip."

Lucy stared incredulously as Natsu commented, "Smells tasty."

Granel just sighed, Lucy growing more suspicious.

"Cheesecakes?"

Lucy's brow went completely flat before Erza remarked, "You can have some with me after we get on." Noticing the two's stares, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing," Granel remarked, waving a hand.

"Then let us await the train."

* * *

Soon, as the group sat on the train, headed towards the destination of their mission, Natsu sat, swaying side to side, getting nauseous from motion sickness.

Seeing this, Erza turned her attention to Flare. "Flare."

Flare frowned in concern. "… Wha –?" but before she could answer, Erza reached into her fellow redhead's cleavage. "H – Hey!"

Erza then pulled out Flare's flask and handed it to Natsu. "Natsu, drink."

Natsu, disoriented from his motion sickness, looked at her deliriously. "Huh…? Wassis…?"

"Medicine."

"Ah…" he muttered before taking it.

Flare paled in horror. ' _Noo! My cuddle time!_ '

"That tastes great," he mumbled before blinking in realization. "Huh? Hey, I'm not sick anymore!"

Flare shot a deathly glare at Erza, though the armored redhead just ignored her.

"Good. So now you can pay attention."

"To what?" he retorted.

She responded by pulling a plate of cheesecake from seemingly nowhere, causing Lucy to stare in confused disbelief. She then noticed Minerva staring at her suspiciously. "What? It is to pass the time as we talk." Turning her attention back to the pink-haired man, she asked, "Do you want some, Natsu?"

"Sure!" he cheered.

Erza nodded and put some on a fork to feed him, causing Flare, Yukino, and Minerva to all take notice and become irritated, with Minerva thinking, ' _I see what you're doing, Erza, and I_ will _get you back._ ' She responded by causing a glowing portal to appear in front of Erza as she reached out to Natsu, causing the fork to appear in front of Minerva, who took the bite. "Don't mind if I do."

The redhead twitched an eyebrow as she retracted her arm.

"Whoa… what was that you did just now?" Lucy asked.

Minerva answered, "It's my magic, Territory. It allows me to open up portals in any location, so long as I can see it."

"Wow…"

"It's OP," Happy noted.

Minerva sent him an annoyed glare. "Quiet, furball. Or do you want to find out if you can keep up with a train?"

Happy immediately hit behind Natsu.

Minerva then glanced at the suddenly shirtless Granel as the girl sighed. Twitching an eyebrow, Minerva chided, "I'm sure you're proud of those little apples of yours, but do try and keep your shirt on. Literally."

"What are you talking about?" the black-haired girl asked in confusion.

Happy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they're melons!" he responded, only for Granel to whack him.

"Your shirt, stupid," Minerva bit back harshly.

"What?" she muttered before looking down, realizing her shirt was yet again gone with only her white bra covering her mounds. "Oh come on!"

Natsu stared, seemingly intensely, as Lucy just gaped in disbelief.

"Hey, Lugi, let me borrow your top."

"No, get your own! And it's Lucy!"

"Like I know where it is!"

Minerva sighed and opened another portal, pulling out a grey and red blouse from within. "Here, Frost Boobs."

"Th – Thanks…" she stuttered before putting it on quickly.

"Alright, I suppose it is time to inform you all of the mission's details," Erza began.

Lucy nodded. "Oh yeah, that's right, you haven't told us what it is yet." She then froze. ' _Oh no! I agreed to this mission without even knowing what it's about! And knowing this guild it's something insane and dangerous!_ '

"Our mission is simple: we are going to stop the plans of a Dark Guild known as Eisenwald. They are planning on using something called Lullaby for some unknown purpose. However, I can guarantee it is something dangerous as their leader, Erigor, also known as 'The Reaper' is involved and heading their mission. I overheard this while on my last job, and knowing the reputation of Erigor, there is only one course of action."

Lucy gulped and asked, "What?"

"Break his spine?" Minerva interjected.

Erza answered sternly, "We are going to launch an assault on Eisenwald's headquarters. And then break his spine."

Lucy's face went white with fear. "WWWHHHAAATTT!?"

Natsu grinned with excitement. "Right! I get to cut loose!"

Erza sighed and then looked at the group. "However, I know that I am not strong enough to take on an entire guild on my own, so that is why I asked for your help. Our first stop on the way will be Onibus Town."

Lucy sighed heavily and slumped in her seat. "…I'm dead."

Minerva smirked in anticipation.

Nearby, a man in a white coat narrowed his eyes with a growl as he overhead their discussion.

Natsu suddenly stood up and looked around in thought.

"N – Natsu?" Lucy asked, confused. "Where are you going?"

"Heard somethin'…"

"What was it?" Granel questioned as the pink-haired teen looked around.

"A growl. Kinda."

The man in the coat stiffened in concern. ' _… He couldn't have seriously…_ '

"Sounded nearby too…"

As he wandered around, the train came to a stop, Erza looking out the window. "Ah, the train is stopping. Time to get off."

As she and the others left, Lucy looked around in thought.

"Hey…" Lucy mumbled as she looked around, "aren't we missing someone…?"

Happy looked around as well and then froze as the train started up

"Natsu!" they shouted in unison.

"That moron!" Granel snarled.

* * *

Inside the train, Natsu looked around the area in annoyance. "Dammit… where was it…?"

As he searched, a tall man with black hair pulled back in a pineapple-shaped haircut with dark eyes and wearing a white coat over a black shit with light blue pants and black shoes walked over to the teen before slamming a foot into his back. To the man's surprise, Natsu hardly moved.

Blinking, the teen turned around. "Oh."

The man froze in surprise.

"Found ya!" Natsu hollered before taking a swing at him, which the man narrowly dodged.

Trying to regain his composure, the man snickered. "Well, well, look at this. Tell me something, do you know the name we have for you legal guild members?"

Natsu just huffed. "Don't care."

"Flies. All of you, Fairy Tail Flies, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"I ain't no fly, bug!" Natsu hollered before swinging again. "So why'd you attack, growler?"

The man again dodged, just barely.

"Why you…!" Natsu charged before encasing his fist in flames, only for his stomach to suddenly start churning, causing him to stumble. "… Oh crap… not now!"

The dark-haired man looked at him bewildered and then laughed loudly. "Oh, wow! This is pathetic! You've got motion sickness this bad?! This is hilarious!" He then grinned darkly and kicked Natsu in the face. "Killing you will be easy!" He aimed his hand at Natsu and shouted, "My name is Kageyama, a member of Eisenwald, now die! Knuckle Shadow!" The shadow around Kageyama's feet began to twist and reshape before a fist made of shadows launched from his feet and slammed into Natsu's weakened form, sending him flying across the train car.

Natsu stood and stumbled back over to the man.

"Want some more?!" Kageyama's answer came when Natsu suddenly and violently vomited on him. "What the shit?! Did you just puke on me?! Damn fly!" Kageyama was about to continue his assault when the train came to sudden stop, causing something to fall out of his pocket. He reached out to grab it, only for Natsu to notice it and then, again, puke on it. Kageyama's face went blank as he stared at Natsu. "… I am going to start punching you now. I do not know when I'll stop."

* * *

Back at the station, Lucy gaped as Erza had forced her way to the control room and pulled the emergency stop to halt the train. She turned to the remainders of her group and ordered, "Let's go, we have to catch up to the train."

"Right," Minerva answered with a nod, before Yukino tapped her shoulder.

"Think you can use your magic to help speed things along Minerva?"

Minerva frowned in thought for a moment before nodding. "I can get us close to it. But I can't see inside the car."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in thought. "Have you ever tried going to places you can't see?"

With a shrug, the black-haired beauty answered, "Last time I tried I warped someone into a rock."

"… Right, line of sight it is. No visualizing where you're going."

"Right."

* * *

Kageyama growled before dodging a shot of flame from Natsu.

Snarling, Natsu turned and shouted, "Alright Doggymama, time to go down."

"It's Kageyama you imbecile!" the shadow-user shouted incensed. "Knuckle Shadow!" he hollered before a fist of shadow shot out at Natsu, who dodged it, only to witness the shadow-hand change direction and grab the flute.

"Eh? Hey!"

"Oh, shut up, Fly!"

"Dammit!" Natsu cursed before slamming his fists together. "Fire Dragon Roar!" he howled as a massive blast of fire shot out at Kageyama.

"Shit!" The shadow-using Dark Mage raised his hands and shouted, "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows formed around Kageyama.

The massive blast hit the man, exploding violently and destroying most of the train car.

As the flames died down, Natsu shouted, "Now give me the flute Pineapple! Huh?" he muttered when he saw that the man was gone. "Where'd he go? Weird…"

A voice was then heard over the train's communication system. "I do apologize everyone, the stop was merely a false alarm, we will begin moving again immediately."

"Crap!" Natsu cursed as the train began moving again, before he ran to the edge and jumped out.

As he did, a portal opened in front of him and Erza stepped out, the teen landing directly on top of her.

"Ow…" he groaned. "Steel boobs…"

Minerva sighed as she and the others stepped out, Flare growling next to her. "Of course…"

Erza, seemingly unfazed from getting landed on, sat up and looked at Natsu. "Are you hurt?"

"Just my face…"

"Good. Now, why don't you explain what happened?"

Nodding, he answered, "The growley guy attacked me. Used shadows to fight. He dropped some weird demon flute thing."

Erza nodded slowly. "I understand, did you catch his name?"

"Kagebouyo? Hmm… Doggymama? No… Applefarmer?"

Granel just stared in disbelief before Erza, growing increasingly worried, interjected, "Kageyama?"

Natsu nodded firmly. "Yeah! That's it!"

Erza growled angrily. "Dammit, he is a member of Eisenwald!"

Natsu tilted his head. "Eiffel-who?"

"Natsu!"

"Aye?!"

"Why did you let him get away?! Were you not listening when I gave the details of the mission?!"

"I didn't let him get away! I got sick again and threw up!"

Lucy then blinked curiously. "Wait, Natsu, you said the guy dropped a flute?"

He nodded. "Yeah, so what? You want it to play music?"

"Not a chance! No, I thought I had heard the name Lullaby before, now I know where. Lullaby is a magical flute that was supposedly created by the dark mage Zeref, it's a death flute."

"And?"

Erza grit her teeth in frustration. "Curses. It is my fault. If I had been more aware we would have seen the enemy sooner and taken the flute."

Natsu frowned slightly and put a hand on her shoulder before they heard a rumble approaching, and turned to see Yukino driving a car with a clamp attached to her arm.

Sighing as she released the clamp, Yukino looked at the group's response and blushed slightly. "I figured we probably need something besides Minerva to get us around quickly."

Minerva frowned slightly. "… You did pay for it, right?"

"I don't steal things!" Yukino retorted, annoyed.

Flare retorted, "That's not an answer."

"She didn't pay," Granel chided, causing Yukino to scrunch up on herself.

Erza jumped into the vehicle and put the clamp on her arm. "We will sort this out later, we need to get moving."

"I'll run," Natsu argued.

Erza again pulled the flask from Flare's cleavage. "No, you will not."

* * *

The train that the group had been on arrived at a new station, Kunugi Station, and the patrons began to slowly climb out of the cars. However, their peaceful departure was halted when a group of people walked up to the cars, the apparent leader of the group being an extremely tall man with spiky silver hair which is held pointing upwards in spiky strands on top of his head, but hangs down to the left side of his face in a distinctive tuft, covering part of his face, black eyes with no eyebrows, numerous blue tattoos covered his face and bare torso, he also wore a long, worn hakama, a short, black, tattered cloth over that, and an equally worn white cloth used as a belt, and a black scarf on his shoulders, geta sandals, and black gloves with 'X' markings on the back and bandages going up his arms. His most distinctive feature, however, was the large, curved, serrated scythe he carried.

The people looked at the man warily before he raised his scythe and pointed it at the train. "Everyone onboard this train, get lost! This train belongs to Eisenwald!"

The people began to murmur and argue.

The man sneered and raised his scythe, bringing its blade parallel to the ground, and swiped it in front of him.

The top half of one of the cars was then sheared off and fell to the side.

He chuckled darkly. "How 'bout now?"

The people slowly and fearfully left the train as the Dark Guild embarked before the train started moving again.

Kageyama walked up to the man and knelt down, handing him the twisted-looking flute. "Erigor, I've brought the Lullaby."

Erigor smirked darkly as he looked at the flute.

* * *

In another town in Fiore, Clover Town, a group of people were in a large building with multiple floors. The building was serving as the meeting ground for the Guild Master Conference, where all of the leaders of the Legal Guilds in Fiore meet and discuss the current situations amongst themselves and the Dark Guilds.

Three guild masters in particular were discussing the actions of one specific guild.

The first was an elderly, bald, cross-dressing man wearing a purple, spaghetti-strap dress, striped pink and purple shorts, a gold, hoop necklace, red lipstick and blush on both cheeks, and small white wings on his back. He was Bob, guild master for Blue Pegasus.

The second was a slim, older man with a squared face that had several wrinkles, dark blonde hair that reached his shoulders and was straight cut, who wore dark sunglasses that covered his eyes, a plain black T-shirt and pants as well as a tall hat with a wide brim and a torn top that slumped backwards. He was Goldmine, guild master for Quattro Cerberus.

The third was Makarov.

Bob laughed in a very effeminate tone before asking in the same tone, "So Makarov, how are those cuties in Fairy Tail doing?"

Makarov nodded in return and answered proudly, "Well as usual. We've had a few… slip-ups, with the Council recently but nothing we can't handle."

Goldmine chuckled in amusement. "I hear your guild members have been causing more destruction than the enemies they fight recently."

Makarov brushed off the remark with a loud laugh. "Well, they're young."

Bob gave a very loud laugh.

A small blue bird then flew in the window and landed in front of Makarov, dropping off a letter in front of him.

Makarov blinked in confusion as he picked it up. "What's this?"

He opened the letter and a magical hologram of Mirajane appeared.

"Oh my, Mira's grown so much in the past few years," Bob commented emphatically.

The recording then said, "Hello Master, I hope you're doing well at the conference. I just thought I'd let you know great news. Fairy Tail could very well have its strongest team ever formed. Erza, Natsu, Granel, and a couple others have formed a team to handle a mission. Anyway, that's all."

Bob and Goldmine looked speechless. Though Bob fixed that swiftly. "My, my, how impressive."

The two then looked, rather confused, at the trembling form of Makarov.

Bob poked his shoulder and asked, "Makarov… what's wrong?"

Makarov answered weakly, "Those three… together… they could… destroy an entire city… this is bad…"

* * *

Erza drove a magic four-wheeler with Natsu, Lucy, Yukino, Flare, Minerva, Granel, and Happy inside when she stopped it at the crest of a hill overlooking the small Kunugi Station.

She stepped out and stumbled slightly, but Natsu stopped her from falling. She pushed herself up and asserted, "I am fine."

"This isn't good," Minerva noted somberly.

Erza turned to several people in military uniforms nearby and asked, "What is going on here? Why are the Rune Knights here?"

One them explained, "Eisenwald has hijacked the train and taken it to Onibus Town. The Rune Knights were sent to deal with them."

Natsu shrugged dismissively. "Whelp, let's go save the cannon fodder."

Erza hissed in frustration and immediately jumped back onto the four-wheeler.

"Whoa, where are we going now!?" Lucy asked.

"Fools, sending in the Rune Knights after a Dark Guild like Eisenwald… they do not stand a chance."

"Are these guys really…that powerful?"

"Yes. They're one of the highest guilds in the Barram Alliance."

"The who-do-whatnow?"

"Not important," remarked as she grabbed the clamp for the vehicle, only for Natsu to take it from her. "What are you doing? We need to make haste."

"No," he argued firmly.

Erza narrowed her eyes angrily. "Yes, we need to catch Eisenwald."

"I'll do it."

Granel paled. " _You're_ gonna drive?"

Natsu just smirked as he put the clamp on his arm. "No, I'm gonna crash us there!"

However, Minerva whacked him, knocking him out of the driver's seat, before he could get moving.

"Huh?"

"We'd prefer not to die on the way there. You be a battery, I'll drive."

"But I've never driven before…"

"Exactly."

"Enough!" Erza shouted before grabbing the clamp, putting it on her arm, and starting the car.

"Hey!" Natsu argued.

Lucy frowned in concern.

Granel tapped her shoulder and remarked, "Don't worry. Eisenwald may be tough, but the issue is really just that the soldiers are super weak."

"Ah…" Lucy noted in thought before realizing the magic four-wheeler was barely moving. "Hey, why are we moving so slow?"

"Erza's stupidity," Minerva noted as Erza sat in the driver's seat with a fatigued expression.

Not standing for it anymore, Natsu finally grabbed the clamp, moved Erza out of the way, and sat in the driver's seat. "Gimme!"

Minerva looked at Lucy and urged firmly, "… Hang onto something."

Natsu smashed the pedal all the way to the floor and the car took off like a rocket.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" shrieked as she held onto the edge of the vehicle tightly. "My brains… are going into my feet!" she shouted, even Granel next to her having frozen her hands to the car so she would not get thrown off.

* * *

On the train, with Eisenwald, Erigor stood over Kageyama, holding Lullaby.

After taking a moment to enjoy having the flute he turned a very irritated scowl to Kageyama. "I understand you fought a Fairy Tail Fly on your way here."

Kageyama began to sweat and tried to keep his cool. "Ah… y – yes… but it's no problem. They only saw Lullaby for a split-second."

Erigor's eyes widened as his fists clenched. "You let a Fairy Tail Fly see Lullaby and escape alive!? What the hell's wrong with you?!" Erigor raised his scythe up angrily.

Kageyama fell backward in fear. "Wait, Erigor, please!"

Erigor then swept the scythe across the aisle and in front of Kageyama.

Kageyama sat, trembling silently before reaching up and clutching his ear, Erigor having sliced a piece off in anger.

"That's your punishment for screwing up," Erigor threatened darkly, "screw up again and next time, it'll be your head."

Kageyama nodded his head weakly. "R-right…sir."

"Tch, what a pain in the ass. Now we have to wipe out all these Fairy Tail Flies before they can tell anyone else what we're planning. I think you all can agree that it's important we teach these flies a lesson."

The rest of the guild nodded in agreement, Kageyama still clutching his bleeding ear.

* * *

Sometime later, Erigor stood at the top of a large set of stairs, looking down at the people gathered below, before looking at Kageyama. "Consider yourself lucky that all I took was your ear, Kageyama."

One of the men around him suddenly spoke up, "Hey, Boss, there's somethin' goin' on with the crowd."

"Eh? What is it?"

Another man stood up, annoyed. "And what the hell's that awful music?"

He got his answer when the magic four-wheeler, still driven by Natsu, careened up the stairs and shot into the hall, one of the tires hitting Erigor in the face on the way down. "Hah! Made it!" Natsu cheered.

Lucy swiftly kicked him in the back, sending him flying. "Are you insane!?"

"Yes."

Lucy just sighed heavily before looking around, realizing they were surrounded by Eisenwald. "Uhh… hey there…"

Kageyama blinked a few times before noticing Natsu and then Erigor passed out on the floor.

Natsu just stretched his neck before seeing the shadow-user. "Huh? Oh, look, it's Kagemane no Jutsu."

"That's not even close you nitwit!"

"Really Kagebunshin?"

Kageyama just stared in silent disbelief before looking at his comrades. "Don't just stand there you idiots! They're the Fairy Tail Flies!"

"We don't have flies."

Erigor suddenly stood up, dusted himself off, and then turned to the others, acting as if nothing had happened. "Ahh… if it isn't the Fairy Tail Flies. How good of you to arrive. Now you can have the front row seat to Eisenwald's glorious victory over the fools who live in the light."

"You don't walk around in the sun?"

"That's not – oh forget it…"

"What are your plans here, Erigor?" Erza demanded.

Erigor chuckled lightly before laughing loudly. "You really wanna know?! Fine! Tell me, what is one thing this station has that no other buildings in the area do!"

Natsu rubbed his chin in thought. "Speakers?"

"I'm pretty sure it's trains," Lucy retorted.

Erigor chuckled in amusement. "Well at least one of you has a brain."

"Thank you," Lucy replied proudly.

Erigor deadpanned, "Not you. Him."

She stared in disbelief.

Erza pointed her sword, which appeared in a flash of light, at Erigor. "I see… the PA system."

Erigor laughed again, triumphantly. "Yes… you're not too bad. That's right. We will use this station's communications system, which broadcasts all across the town, and play Lullaby to everyone here. Then they will suffer for their ignorance of living in the privileges and safety of the light, while knowing all too well that there are others who do not have such rights."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in thought. "Um… Can magic music carry over speaker systems?" Everyone just ignored him.

Erza narrowed her eyes and then shot back, "The people who are in such a situation put themselves there."

Lucy then asserted, "Yeah! Besides, doing this isn't a way to get back your rights! All you'll do is engender sadness and pain!"

Erigor looked at Lucy confused and then guffawed in response. "Oh that's rich! Come on, do you _really_ think I'm doing all this, going through all this trouble, so I can get my rights back? What foolishness. No… I don't want rights and privileges, I want power. The reason… is because those with power make the rules and get to rewrite history any way they see fit!"

"So?" Natsu remarked bluntly.

"Victor's Justice you mean," Erza retorted.

"Not too shabby. Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow vigorously. "Am I gonna have to punch someone to get you to listen to me?! Because I will!"

Kageyama then shouted, "You really shouldn't care anyway, because you won't see the age of the Dark Guilds. All you'll see…is the afterlife!" One of his shadows then shot forward at Lucy.

The shadows were immediately swallowed into a vortex and vanished.

"The hell?!"

"Sorry, I can't let you do that," Minerva retorted with a smirk. "I will let you have that attack back though."

"Hu –?" Kageyama grunted before another vortex appeared next to him, causing his own attack to remerge and strike him.

Natsu finally had enough and hoisted the car into the air before throwing it at Erigor and Kageyama. "Okay, screw this! I've had enough of all of you just nonstop talking and spouting shit! So I'm going to wreck you!"

The shadow user barely leapt out of the way of the flying vehicle, before he landed and hissed as he sank into the ground in a shadow.

After a moment, Erigor chuckled and then started to float on air. ' _Wonderful… the Fairy Tail Flies have fallen right into my trap._ '

"He's lost it…" Lucy lamented.

Natsu proceeded to take a deep breath in preparation.

Erza huffed as he flew away. "Natsu, Granel, go after him!"

The pink-haired teen coughed as Erza's order interrupted him. "H – Huh? Wh – Why'd you interrupt me?"

"Go! One of you go after Kageyama, the other Erigor!"

"But –!"

"Erigor has Lullaby, GO!"

Both nodded in agreement and chased after Erigor.

"Hey!" one of the Eisenwald members shouted. "Don't forget about us!"

Lucy then turned to the large group of mages in front of them and gulped. "Okay… so that leaves me… Erza… Flare… Yukino… and Minerva to fight the rest of these guys… oh boy…"

"How boring," Minerva muttered in irritation.

"Huh!?"

Minerva turned Flare, Yukino, and Erza and raised her hand. "Usual way to decide who gets to wipe them out?"

"Agreed," Flare responded.

Nodding, Erza added, "Very well."

"Are… they serious…?" one of the mages groaned.

One of the mages sneered in annoyance. "You gotta be kiddin', we're just fightin' a bunch of chicks!"

Another of the mages shrugged and added with a smirk, "Hey, look at the bright side, at least we can have some fun after we're done with this dump."

This remark, however, earned them all vehement glares from Yukino, Flare, Erza, and Minerva made of pure killing intent.

Flare snarled, "Screw it. Let's all just turn them into slag."

Erza nodded in agreement.

Minerva raised her hands, causing many portals to open amongst the group, releasing massive explosions at the same time.

Erza huffed in displeasure. "Hmph, there are still several left. Requip: The Knight!" Erza frowned and raised her hands as her body was bathed in light.

The Eisenwald members looked at her confused before a few of them began to come to a horrifying realization.

Soon her normal attire was gone and was replaced with armor that seemed to have almost every piece made of a silvery metal with only a small breastplate that was composed of feather-shaped plates that pointed upwards, which barely covered her bust, with a large metal flower on the front that extended to her hips along her sides, her biceps being covered with metal straps, along with very large plated gauntlets which had feather-shaped plates at the edges, her waist was encircled by large, decorative plates reminiscent of feathers that formed a long skirt, as well as a pair of plated boots which were partially hidden by her skirt, each having small, ornamental wings, a neck guard made of feather-like plates, a tiara with prominent wings, causing some of her hair to cover her left eye, her armor lastly having large metal wings.

Several of the Eisenwald members lurched back. "Oh no… it's _her._ "

"Titania Erza!"

"Heaven's Wheel!" Erza announced. Erza approached the group and a circle of swords appeared around her. "Dance, my blades!" The circle of blades begin spinning, forming a disc before she sent the spinning disc of blades flying at the enemies. "Circle Sword!"

The attack reached the center of the group and burst outward, taking out the remaining enemies.

"Tch, show off," Minerva hissed. "Always having to get the last word in."

As the group fought, a single Eisenwald member cowered and ran off, hiding inside of a specialized magic circle.

"Wh – Whoa…" Lucy mumbled in shock.

Erza returned to her normal attire and added, "We still have one of them running around. Minerva, you and the others go after him."

Minerva twitched an eyebrow furiously.

Lucy began to sweat as the two stared each other down.

"Are you trying to order me around, Titanium Tits?"

"Would you rather he escaped?"

"I would rather you stop thinking you're the boss."

Lucy gulped deeply as she backed away from the two.

Yukino was the one who spoke up next. "Hey! Do you two really think Natsu would want us fighting like this?"

The two stared in silence before Minerva sighed in resignation. "Fine. We'll go look for him."

"Good," Erza noted.

Minerva then turned a glare to the redhead. "Not for you. Just because I know Natsu would want us to work together. When this is over though, I _will_ make you stop thinking you're in charge."

Lucy gulped as she and the others then ran off to chase the last man.

* * *

Granel and Natsu ran down a corridor looking for Erigor when they came upon a split in the path.

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "So… which way do we go?"

Granel furrowed her brow in thought as Natsu sniffed the air.

"Damn… there's too many scents mixing together to track him."

"How about we split up?"

"Hey! Erza told us to look for Erigor, not to split up!"

"She's not here right now, so I think we can do this safely."

"You want to defy Erza?!"

"No you idiot! If we split up we can catch him faster! If we stay together it'll take twice as long to find him! Would you rather piss her off because we failed to catch him or because we didn't do it exactly how she wanted?!"

Natsu just growled in frustration. "Fine…"

Nodding, Granel added, "Right. I'll take the broadcast room. If Erigor's gonna play that song to everyone, then he'll do it from there."

"Right." ' _Then why's the smell of blood going the other way…?_ ' Natsu furrowed his brow in thought. ' _… He's not going to use it here, is he…?_ ' With another moment to think, Natsu rushed off towards the smell.

* * *

Granel made her way towards the broadcast room and knocked open the door and looked around. "What the…? Nobody's here. But shouldn't he… Wait a minute… Dammit Natsu, you knew he wasn't this way!"

"Yeah, except _us_ ," a voice droned.

Granel turned around and saw a tanned skin man with narrow black eyes who wore a distinctive jacket that was mostly yellow with the top part being yellow and dark blue, a tight hood over his head, a white shirt, green pants, black shoes, and black bands around all of his fingers.

She blinked in thought. "Huh. Erza and Minerva must've missed some cannon fodder." She then grabbed the edge of her shirt but stopped with a thoughtful look. "I'll just ice you and go."

"Huh?"

"I'm guessing this was a trap."

The man chuckled. "Oh… this was _all_ a trap. And now I, Rayule of Eisenwald, will be your death!"

"Right. Can you get out of the way now? I need to punch a moron for sending me down the wrong path to Erigor."

"You're not goin' anywhere!" He slung his hands forward and the black bands extended into long black threads that lunged towards Granel.

"Crap!" Granel ducked to the side as the attacks landed and slid to the side. She balled up her right fist and placed it into her left palm, the air around the space chilling, and shouted, "Ice-Make Shield!" She thrust her left hand forward and a half-snowflake shaped shield burst from the ground. "You're annoying me."

Rayule swung his threads forward and slammed straight through the shield.

"What?!"

"Nice try!"

Granel jumped to the side and formed her Ice-Make pose again, and then shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance! Now piss off!" A magic circle formed in the air with long arrows shooting out of it and towards Rayule.

The band-using mage jumped out of the way and swung his hands around and attempted to wrap his bands around Granel's feet.

Granel jumped over the attack and then formed the Ice-Make pose and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" Again, she launched the attack, which Rayule easily blocked. However, Granel smirked in response.

Rayule turned around just in time to see one more lance coming at him from behind. He ducked and then threw up his bands to smash it.

Granel growled in frustration. "Hey buddy, you mind tellin' me why your crazy boss isn't in here? I've got a pretty good idea why, but I'd like to know for sure before I smash your face in."

Rayule snickered before throwing his bands forward again.

"Grr…" Granel then threw out, "Ice-Make: Block!" A large block of ice appeared and blocked the bands but was not smashed through.

Rayule retracted his bands and chuckled. "You really wanna know that badly, huh?"

"I do. So start talking before I encase your balls in ice," she then stopped and slammed her hands together and created a large hammer, "and smash them with this."

Rayule, fittingly, felt his blood run cold.

* * *

Erza sighed and then looked outside. "I have to warn the civilians, with all of this dark magic being thrown around they are in danger."

She ran out of the main station and out towards the crowd around the building.

"Everyone! Listen! You need to get out of here, there is a Dark Guild inside this building and the dark magic they're using is extremely dangerous!"

Everyone looked at her confused and then began to scatter as the wind picked up.

Erza raised an eyebrow and then looked behind her in shock as a large tornado had enveloped the building. "Wh – What is that…?!"

"Like it do you, Fairy Tail Fly?"

Erza turned around and came face to face with Erigor.

"You! What are you doing outside the building?!"

Erigor merely chuckled in response. "Heh, you fools didn't really think my plan was that simple and stupid, did you?"

She replied flatly, "Judging from your appearance and attitude? Yes. I thought you were that simple and stupid."

The floating man twitched an eyebrow before changing to an annoyed cackle. "You'll never escape this Wind Wall, until it's too late!" With that, Erigor sent a blast of wind at Erza and knocked her through the prison and in to the other side.

Erza stood up and ran over to the swirling wall of wind and slammed her fist against it in aggravation. "No! Erigor!" However, the wall burst back with a blast of wind and sent her hurtling backwards. "Damn it…" She scowled in anger before making her way back into the station to warn the others.

* * *

Outside the Wind Wall, Erigor chuckled to himself. "Now…to get going to the real target."

* * *

Rayule and Granel continued their standoff, though Granel's expression had morphed into a far angrier glare. "You bastards!"

Rayule merely laughed at him. "You're surprised!? Did you really think we'd waste something as powerful as Lullaby on a bunch of weak-ass civilians?! No way, we're headed straight for the top, the Guild Masters! The whole deal with this pathetic little station was just get you flies out of the way!"

Granel swung the hammer at him hard. "You see buddy, there's something you should realize."

"Huh?" Rayule mumbled before looking down at his feet and gasping as he saw the floor had become encased in ice.

"Freeze!"

The ice then extended forward and covered Rayule's entire body, freezing him solid.

"There are some guilds that are more fearsome than the Dark Ones." With a sigh, Granel summoned a sword into her grasp and looked at Rayule before she muttered, "Better go tell the others."

* * *

Natsu looked outside of the station at the Wind Wall in thought. "Huh… a wall of wind around the station… That's weird… Wonder if Erza noticed."

What he seemingly did not realize, however, was the shadow that followed him along the ceiling.

* * *

Erza was in the main room, holding a battered Eisenwald member by the collar. "Answer me… how do I break this wind spell?"

The dark-haired man merely laughed insultingly at her. "You can't. It won't come down until Erigor takes it down. And by the time that's done… our mission will be finished."

Erza snarled at the man and summoned a sword before stabbing almost directly between his legs.

"Erza!"

Erza turned as Granel appeared from one of the hallways. "Yes? I am about to remove this man's balls to get some answers."

She looked at Granel and noticed her battered state. "What happened, did you meet Erigor?"

Granel shook her head. "No, I didn't find him, but I've got bad news, this whole thing was ruse."

Erza looked at him confused and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Erigor's plan was never to attack the people outside, his aim the whole time was something called the Guild Master's Conference."

Erza's eyes then widened greatly. "Damn, I should have realized this was a trap. But our first problem is getting past that damned Wind Wall."

"What?"

"Erigor has surrounded this building with a wall of wind, preventing us from escaping."

"Dammit.

Erza clenched her fist and then walked over to one of the downed men. "I demand you to answer me, how can we break through that barrier."

The man just smirked sadistically. "You will _never_ break through it…"

"Answers! Now!" she demanded before summoning a large number of swords into the air that aimed at the ground. "I don't like having to do this," she muttered under her breath. "Either one of you answers, or I send you all to the afterlife!"

The man paled slightly and then answered, "K – Kage! Kage can do it!"

Erza nodded in approval before turning to the ice-user. "Good. Granel, ice them."

Granel smirked and entered her usual pose. "Ice-Make: Floor!" The room was suddenly filled with ice, coating the floor and freezing all of the Eisenwald grunts in place, restraining them.

"Now the Rune Knights should actually have a chance at arresting them. You two let's go find the others and hunt down Kage."

"Right. Also, we might have another issue. I think Natsu's not here."

Erza turned to her with an angered shock. "What do you mean he's not here?!"

"I think he knew Erigor wasn't here somehow and left."

"Then why aren't you with him?!"

"We split off to try and find Erigor separately," Granel explained simply.

"So you disobeyed," Erza asserted dangerously.

"E – Eh…? The hell are you talking about?"

"You ignored my order to stick together."

"Oh you've gotta be kidding! It would've taken twice as long to search for that asshole if we –!"

Erza interrupted him. "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"I… huh?"

Erza sighed and repeated, "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"To handle strong opponents, probably. What, you think that airhead can actually beat flame brain?"

"Of course not. But what if he gets caught by surprise?"

Granel just shrugged. "This is Natsu. His senses of smell and hearing would tip him off to anything."

"That is not the issue, because when you are out on a job, it is always best to have someone at your back in case someone tries to stab it. And you just let Natsu run off!"

"I think you're seriously overreacting. Natsu isn't a kid anymore. He can handle himself fine. Or do you have so little faith in him? This is Natsu we're talking about."

"You are right. This is Natsu we are talking about. And what does Natsu do? Daily?" Erza retorted.

"Uh… sleep?"

"I hope Natsu doesn't get into any trouble," Flare muttered in concern. "Oohh… if only I was there with him…"

Erza twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"I hope Natsu doesn't get into any trouble," Flare muttered in concern. "Oohh… if only I was there with him…"

Granel sighed in exasperation. "You two seriously baby him too much. He's lucky he's got someone like me to kick him in the ass. Otherwise he'd be weak."

Erza sighed. "Come on, let's go."

After they left, one of the men on the ground who managed not to be entirely frozen, looked towards a section of the wall and called out quietly, "Karacka…"

A yellow magic circle appeared on the wall as a short, hunched, fat man came out of the magic circle. "Wh – what is it, Byard?"

Byard groaned and then looked at the fat man. "I've got a very… special mission for you… Karacka."

* * *

Lucy, Minerva, Yukino, Flare, and Happy were searching through the halls of the station as well trying to find the one named Kage. After a few moments, Lucy stopped and moaned. "Geez… we're never gonna find this guy." She then turned to the others. "Come on, why don't we head back and tell Erza we couldn't find him?"

"Huh?" Happy looked at her shocked at the declaration. "Wwooww, Lucy. You're so brave, defying Erza's orders like that."

"Eh?" Lucy squeaked out.

"But I have to say I feel sorry for you, because the _things_ Erza will do to you if you don't follow her orders."

"Th – Things…?" Lucy asked with trepidation.

"Yeah… things with ropes and chains…"

"I – I, uh…"

"I'll be sure to get you a nice tombstone."

Lucy paled before eagerly asserting, "O – Okay you guys, let's go!"

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

Natsu sighed as he looked at the huge Wind Wall around the station. "Man, that guy went pretty far outside of the station… Wonder when I'll catch up with airhead? Wish Happy were here, then I could fly. …" Looking down at his feet, he began swirling flames at the ground. "Hm… Maybe…"

* * *

Kageyama's Shadow Form raced around the walls and ceiling of the station in frustration. "Where the hell did that pink-haired bastard go…?" He stopped when he rounded a corner and saw Flare below, looking around curiously. "… Just great… Now what…?" After a silent moment of thought, he decided to just go after her instead. "… Ah well. A Fly is a Fly."

However, as he readied to attack her, her hair suddenly lit aflame.

' _Uh-oh… did she notice me?_ '

"I know you're here, come out!" she demanded.

Kageyama paled in fear before she suddenly started thrashing around, destroying the walls with her hair.

"Natsu!"

He almost fell out of the ceiling in disbelief. "This bitch is crazy… And she's supposed to be in a Light Guild…?"

Suddenly, Flare took a heavy, deep breath.

"… What is she doing now?"

"Magma Dragon Roar!" she bellowed before sending an immense blast of thick flames out into the hall.

"The hell!?" Kageyama exclaimed before leaping from his shadow to safety.

"Dammit Natsu…" Flare groaned as the flames died down, and then saw Kageyama around the corner. "Hey, are you Calibratorcab?"

Twitching an eyebrow, he returned, "It's Kageyama, dammit!"

Flare just smirked confidently. "Thanks for telling me your name."

"… Shit."

She sent several long tendrils of hair out at the man, encased in fire.

Kageyama barely managed to dive out of the way, shocked when the tendrils immediately changed direction to pursue him. "The hell!? Shadow Wall!" he shouted before a dome of shadows surrounded him.

The hair twirled itself into a drill shape and pierced straight through the dome.

"Crap!" he growled before jumping back, only for the back of his head to hit something metal.

Flare swiftly entangled him and trapped him, Erza nodding in appreciation. "Good, you captured him. Now to get him to talk."

"I won't tell you a damn – gah!" he shouted, stopping when Flare's hair ignited, burning him.

Flare smirked darkly. "What was that? Sounded like, 'Turn me into burning mush'."

Erza immediately walked over to Kageyama and grabbed him by the collar. "Now, you will dispel the Wind Wall outside, understand?"

Kageyama, who had been fully roused to consciousness by Erza's sudden action, nodded weakly. "Alright… I'll do it."

However, right at that moment, a magic circle appeared on the wall and a hand burst out, plunging a dagger through Kageyama's back and out through his chest.

Erza's eyes widened as the hand receded and saw Karacka appeared nearby.

Karacka looked at the weakened form of Kageyama sadly. "S – Sorry, Kageyama, it was… Byard's orders."

Flare glared coldly as she turned to Karacka and dropped Kageyama. "… You got blood in my hair."

Karacka scream only for Flare to form a giant fist with her hair and crush him underneath.

Lucy just stared in disbelief.

Erza sighed in frustration. "Let us head back to the front of the station. We are surrounded by a wall of wind, we have to figure out a way past it." She then grabbed the bleeding Kageyama. "Flare, cauterize these wounds, we can still use him."

Flare ignited her hair and grinned sadistically. "Gladly," she remarked before she burned the wounds shut, causing Kageyama to growl in pain.

Erza then picked up the man and threw him to Granel.

"Huh?! Why me?!" Granel retorted.

"Consider it your punishment for disobeying me," Erza charged.

"You can't _seriously_ still be mad about that! There isn't even anything _to_ be mad about!"

Erza merely shot her an angry glare.

"If you're expecting some form of gratitude from me forget it," Kageyama remarked weakly as Granel threw him over her shoulder.

Flare turned to him with a huff. "Oh don't misunderstand. We aren't expecting any gratitude at all."

Erza walked up to him and replied, "Not necessarily gratitude, but we _are_ expecting you to take down that barrier."

"… Fine…"

"Good."

* * *

Elsewhere, Erigor flew over a large chasm within which a set of train tracks went through. Clover Canyon, the path leading towards the meeting hall of the Guild Masters. Erigor chuckled darkly as he overlooked the area. "Heh, heh, won't be long now, but the God of Death will purge the Light Guild Masters." He then flew off in another direction.

* * *

Back at the station, Erza, Flare, Lucy, Minerva, Yukino, Granel, with Kageyama slumped nearby, and Happy stood at the edge of the Wind Wall.

Erza adorned her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent another attack at the wall. "Circle Sword!" The disc-like assembly of swords struck the wall and immediately collapsed and shattered. Erza returned to her normal armor and hissed in frustration. "It is still standing, unmoved…"

Granel looked around in confusion. "Hey, um, how'd Natsu get out? 'Cause he ain't here."

"I haven't smelled him at all…" Flare pouted.

Minerva sighed and added, "I'd teleport us out if I could see through this wall, but I can't."

Erza turned and tried to awaken Kageyama, whom had passed out on the way there. "This is not working, if we do not do something swiftly it will be too late."

Flare put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hm… does it go under?"

Lucy retorted, "I'm not sure if you noticed, but none of us have a shovel."

"Ah-hah!" Happy suddenly shouted.

"What was that for, cat!?"

"I remember what I was supposed to tell you back in the car!" Happy rooted around in his backpack and handed Lucy a fancy, golden key. "After the last job at Everlue's mansion, Virgo gave me her key and asked me to give it to you."

Lucy turned blue and looked at the key. "You mean… that big gorilla thing? While I'm happy to get a new key, especially a Zodiac Key, that won't do much for us right now."

Happy snickered proudly. "But you're forgetting, Virgo digs holes. We can have her dig a hole and get out _under_ the Wind Wall."

Lucy stared at him in disbelief. "… And you remembered this _now_?!"

Happy just laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well it didn't seem all that important at the time."

* * *

 **And done! Thus finishes the third chapter of Embodiment of Flame: Rekindled. Hope you enjoyed it, be sure to leave a review if you did. If you were unsure, confused, or just have questions about anything, leave your queries in a review and I will do what I can to address them. Though if your concerns are related to future story developments, i.e. spoilers, you would be better served in a PM, as I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible in the reviewer responses, since many people do not like to see them. That said, if you did not like it, review if you must. But having a cogent point and a moderate grasp of the English language would be appreciated. Otherwise, just go and do something you actually enjoy instead. Anyway! No more fluff out of me, so until next time, bye-bye!**


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